[centre][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/505562512704667670/508758309537316885/Esher_Flag_Complete.jpg[/img][/centre]

[centre][u][i]Name of Nation[/i][/u] 
The Esher [i]Ríghacd[/i]

[u][i]Government[/i][/u] 
Elective Tribal Monarchy

[u][i]Capital[/i][/u] 
Glenmagar

[u][i]Species[/i][/u] 
Human[/centre]

[hider=A General Chronology of the Sidaric Peoples][centre][img]https://i.imgur.com/bevVxHk.jpg?1[/img]

[i]Men! Wull ye follow me?[/i]

[sub]BGAM - Before the Glorious Age of Man
OGAM - Of the Glorious Age of Man[/sub][/centre]

[list][*]~8,500 BGAM[indent]First human habitation.
[hider=Detail]First human habitation is evident from this period when early humans migrated into the area during the last ice age - it is possible that they were escaping threats from the east.[/hider][/indent]
[*]~4,000-3,500 BCE[indent]Dwellings, farming, animal domestication, fishing, waterfaring vessels, ritual burial, polytheistic religion, tribalism, [url=http://www.specialx.net/specialxdotnet/burntbones_images/Stonehenge1.jpg]stone circles[/url] all present.
[hider=Detail]Stone houses and farming first appear. Denizens of the region kept cattle, farmed barley & wheat, gathered shellfish, and engaged in pole & line fishing from boats. Grooved pottery appeared in the period, and chambered cairn tombs appear to have been developed. The earliest pottery depictions of a female goddess with a head of saffron date back from this time. Even from this early period, people appear to have been very connected, suggesting that clans were present or were at a developed point in their formation. A unique hallmark of early Sidarid culture that has endured are monuments in the form of standing stones, ranging from monuments of one large stone to monuments of hundreds of stones placed in complex shapes and piled on each other to create rudimentary arches. The early function of [url=http://www.specialx.net/specialxdotnet/burntbones_images/Stonehenge1.jpg]stone circles[/url] may have been to commemorate the end of clan feuds or wars and to honour the war goddess. In the present day they function as shrines to the Bear Mother Seihdhara and to other gods or spirits, as peaceful sanctuaries where arbitration between feuding parties can take place, and as gathering places during festivals, celebrations, and in preparation for war. The [i]Wyndyn[/i] as a distinct druido-magickal priestly class emerge in this period, and their discovery and utilisation magic occurs over an absurdly short period of time. The Sdarids believe magic was granted to them via divine means.[/hider][/indent]
[*]~2,000 BGAM-1000 BGAM[indent]The bronze age arrives in Sidara around 2000 BGAM, and hillforts begin appearing from around 1,500 BGAM. Clan hillfort settlements become an established part of Sidarid culture and society by 1,000 BGAM.
Contact with the eastern Héiswaep traders helped spur Sidarid cultural development. For the longest time Sidarids had been content with their insular existence, from time to time raiding one another or erupting into small clan feuds, but contact with these strange trading people - who would be dubbed 'the Headless Men' -  brought about a lust for the strange and wondrous goods bartered - and eventually not just bartered, but bought. The great Héiswaep trader, Eilaegi, and his father, Shruehaem, introduced the concept of currency to the Sidarids. The two Héiswaep merchants hired Sidarid clans to protect their great caravans as they journeyed westward through Sidarid lands and, across the Seihdh-Soul-Sea, on to the lands of the Gwereinmáchlíd - the 'Sunset-Folk'. The warriors in these Sdarid clans served as light infantry and as cavalry, protecting the traders from bandits and hostile tribes along the trading route. The gold coins the clans received in return made a deep impression on their greater tribes, who then sought out Héiswaep minting expertise. The Héiswaepzí gladly provided this technology since it made trade between the two peoples much easier, and soon the Sidarids were striking coins of their own, usually adorned with horses and sheaves of wheat. 
Sdarid tribes made their coins of gold and less often of silver, and very rarely of copper. Bronze or iron coins, common in some of the Héiswaep city-states, were not struck by the Sidarids. Coin-making became a refined art amongst the Sdarids - they very soon eclipsed their Héiswaep teachers and specialised craftsmen were making the dies for the coins. The methodologies developed in this period have remained largely unchanged to the present day.
First, blanks are made from gold or silver, which are melted and poured into special clay moulds. The die is a two-part affair: the blank is fitted into the heavy lower half, and the upper half then fitted over it. A worker then strikes the die with a heavy iron hammer, smashing the design into the gold or silver of the coin. Sdarid minters are very good at this, and doublestrikes or “smeared” coins, found often in the coinage of the Héiswaepzí and Gwereinmáchlídzí, are unknown among Sdarids. 
Because the Sidarids had no central government, the coinage was easily debased (mixed with inferior metals). Coins were commonly “shaved”: an unscrupulous trader would keep a small container out of sight and use a sharp blade to remove a sliver of gold from the edge of each coin he or she handles, dropping these ill-gotten gains into the container. Sdarid coins rapidly lost their original value, and traders often weighed them or even bit them. Gold mixed with a base metal is typically harder than pure or near-pure metal and so pure gold is very soft and will yield teeth marks if bitten. This remains an issue event to the present day. Powerful tribes usually minted their own coins with the image of their chief or king on them. Some tribes even used the extremely precious sacred-metal, halor, for coinage. However this met with stiff resistance from [i]Wyndyn[/i], who frowned upon the sacred-metal - believed to be the congealed blood of Seihdhara, fallen from the heavens where she does battle - being used for such base purposes.

By 1500 BGAM even silk from Csíbhrògh (later it would be discovered that silk, in fact, came all the way from Cúneacsbhrògh) had found its way into the hands of Sidarid [i]Lairds[/i].
The quantity traded remained small, and this meant that the acquisition of these exotic goods marked out certain [i]Lairds[/i] as a cut above the others. Such status symbols aided them in gaining greater power, and so the clans began to coalesce around ever-more-powerful leaders - leaders chosen from the then-supreme warrior class, for the [i]Wyndyn[/i] would not fully expand their powers for some centuries. With this greater power and organisation came the ability to wage war on an ever greater scale, though it would not come to be directed against non-Sidarids until the Iron Age.[/indent]
[*]~900-400 BGAM[indent]The onset of the Iron Age. Age of forts and defended farmsteads, as well as quarrelsome tribal confederations, petty tribal kingdoms, and the quick rise and fall of tribal warlords.
[hider=Detail]The onset of the Iron Age in Sidara occurs around 900 BGAM, initiating an age of forts and defended farmsteads, as well as quarrelsome clan confederations, petty tribal kingdoms, and the quick rise and fall of clan warlords. Huge numbers of small duns, hillforts, oppida, and ring forts were built on any suitable crag or hillock during this period, moreso than in the past where single hillforts were the norm for a clan. Brochs are also first constructed in this period. Many souterrain underground galleries (functioning as food stores or hiding places during times of strife) and passageways were constructed to ease movement and communications when the surface was compromised or too dangerous. Island settlements linked with land by a causeway, the so-called crannogs, also became common and served a primarily defensive purpose.
This period saw the swift expansion of Sidarid lands westward, across the Seihdh-Soul-Sea, and eastward into Higape, the lands of the Héiswaepzí - who thought to profit eternally from Sidarid desire for exotic goods from Csíbhrògh, Cúneacsbhrògh, and other far eastern realms. It also saw the rise of the Baevni Empire to the west, which wreaked havoc on Western Sidara (Wesdara).[/hider][/indent]
[*]740 BGAM[indent]A Héiswaep league of western merchant republics elected a Great Merchant to lead the defence of their lands against Sidarid encroachment. 

[centre][img]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ObtvWZF2M70/Tp9KVhrZWSI/AAAAAAAACBk/Cc_J6IeCqj8/s1600/blemmias.jpg[/img]

[i]The Héiswaepzí, a Race of Headless Men[/i][/centre]

The newly formed league was both large and wealthy and would have almost certainly put a stop to Sidarid ambitions were it not for bad luck and the hurriedness of the Great Merchant, a man by the name of Gulgalu, who led his force against the Sidarids and faced them in open combat before all the forces of the League were at his disposal. Led by one [i]Laird[/i] Aenghas, the Sidarids were enthused by the opportunity to face their prey openly. Unprepared and poorly led, the Héiswaep force was defeated and scattered, and the Great Merchant Gulgalu was slain. His face was cut from his chest and paraded before the victorious Sidarid army.[/indent]
[*]739 BGAM[indent]Sidarid tribes invaded Higape again led by a [i]Laird[/i] named Rhigh. The Héiswaepzí fended off the Sdarids, but could not stop them from moving on into Higape. A force led by the prominent city-state of Buoriga moved to stop them at the pass of Ulaemip, the only useful route southward towards the rich Héiswaep cities. Barbarians the Sdarids may have been, but centuries of trade meant that they knew their neighbour well by now. They bypassed the Buorigzí by using a mountain path commonly used by merchants wishing to avoid the bandits who sometimes lay in wait at the pass of Ulaemip. When the Buorig fleet tried to evacuate the army, the Sdarids launched an attack and a fierce battle broke out at the water’s edge. The Héiswaepzí managed to drive off the Sdarids after heavy losses on both sides. Leaving their dead behind, the invaders headed on toward their real goal, the sacred Tuohimil Oracle.
For centuries, Héiswaepzí had donated treasures to the Oracle and its god, Fo. The Sdarids now pillaged these riches but were surprised in the course of their looting and desecration by a relieving Héiswaep army. According to Héiswaep writers, the actions of the Sdarids enraged Fo, who smote the thieving raiders with earthquakes and thunderbolts, slaying thousands of them.
Whatever the case, the Sdarids were harassed by guerrilla strikes from small bands of Héiswaepzí. A nighttime raid also created great confusion, and Sdarid contingents mistakenly fought one another in the darkness. The next day’s fighting against the Héiswaepzí went badly, and [i]Laird[/i] Rhigh suffered a serious wound. Shamed by this immense defeat, he followed the Sdarid custom of enlarging the wound to make it more conspicuous, killing himself in the process. The remainder of the Sdarids put their own wounded to death and straggled north, losing still more warriors to Héiswaep attacks along the way. A pitiful remnant returned to their homelands, still loaded with immense treasures.
One wing of the Sdarid host would go on to found a small pirate kingdom on the shore of the World-Water, which endured for several generations - they raided the Héiswaep cities on the World-Water's coast and gained a fearsome reputation for their habit of sacrificing prisoners. So cruel did the Héiswaepzí consider them that people would commit suicide at the very approach of Sdarid raiders. This greatly amused the Sdarids, who enjoyed marching toward Héiswaep cities just to watch the citizens fling themselves from the walls. 
Another group of the Sdarid host would cross the World-Water to serve as mercenaries on distant islands, eventually founding the long-lived kingdom of Sadeiríya. Still others returned to Higape for decades to come, this time invited as paid swords for hire. But they would never again threaten to conquer Higape.

Though there were undoubtedly Sdarid excursions - such as that of [i]Laird[/i] Rhig - that aimed after loot and glory, Sdarid tribes tended more often to migrate due to population pressures. Those same pressures that saw them expand eastward towards Higape saw them also expand westwards towards Gwereinmáchlídbhrógh (lit. Land of the Sunset-Folk). For traders not only brought luxury goods from east and west; they also alerted Sdarids to the existence of rich lands they could plunder and potentially settle...[/indent]
[*]550 BGAM[indent][indent]'These are not civilised people who will become your ally when you have taken their city, but wild beasts whose blood we must shed or see them spill our own.' - An Anonymous Baevni Military Leader[/indent]

The Gwereinmáchlídzí were organised into a number of kingdoms and republics, all which had early contact with the Sdarids both through trade and due to the Gwereinmáchlíd expansion. Of these republics, the Baevnizí, centred on the city of Baevin, soon formed a lasting alliance with the more easterly city-state of Baxiria to counter the Sdarid threat. Sdarid settlers arrived in the Torg River Valley of Eastern Gwereinmáchlídbhrógh around 550 BGAM and soon invaded the lands of the Kulgum, a Gwereinmáchlíd people neighbouring the Baevnizí.[/indent] 
[*]548 BGAM[indent]Baevni ambassadors tried to arrange peace between the Sdarids and the Kulgum city of Diharc but carelessly took the side of their neighbours against the Sdarids when fighting broke out anyway. The Sdarids emerged victorious from the battle and demanded compensation from Baevin for this breach of the peace.
Baevin acknowledged the wrongdoing but elected two of the disgraced ambassadors as the new year’s consuls. Taking this for the insult the Baevnizí surely intended, the Sdarids - led by [i]Laird[/i] Rhigh (a common leader’s nickname during the period, meaning “king”) - marched on Baevin. At least three tribes took part, Rhigh's own Waégnú tribe and their allies, the Hóeryéfni and Panoagh tribes. Rhigh and his men smashed a Baevni army at the Oragi Moors and pressed on to the city itself.
Although later Baevni historians recorded great acts of heroism by the ancestors of every prominent family, the Baevnizí could not stop the Sdarids. The invaders burned and pillaged the so-called Sunlit City with great enthusiasm. Only a small Baevni garrison held out on one of the city's fourteen hills, fending off repeated assaults. Unable to force the Sdarids to leave, the Baevnizí negotiated a peace. For one-thousand pounds of gold, the Sdarids would head back east and leave Baevin. When Baevni negotiators protested that the scales were unbalanced, Rhigh famously tossed his sword on the scales to add to the weight and declared: “Janask Jatedi,” in broken Culiv - the language of the Baevni. “Woe to the vanquished.”

[centre][img]https://i.imgur.com/Yh125Lq.jpg?1[/img]

[i]Janask Jatedi[/i][/centre]

Rhigh’s victory did not end Sdarid attacks on Baevni lands, and the Baevnizí made sure their own people never forgot the insult. [i]Janask Jatedi[/i] became a Baevni watchword and the basis for Baevni policy towards defeated peoples. Every new generation of the Baevni upper classes grew up thirsting for vengeance against those who had sacked their invincible city. A century later, Gijer Dul would still cite the Sdarid sack of Baevin as justification for his atrocities against Wesdarid civilians...[/indent]
[*]548-460 BGAM[indent]Gulubi, a powerful Héiswaep city peering over the World-Water on the western continental coast, just north of Gwereinmáchlídbhrógh, saw Baevin as a potential rival and funded repeated Sdarid incursions for a half-century after Rhigh's victory. In 497 BGAM, the Baevni consul Fohir Tor defeated a Sdarid [i]Laird[/i] in single combat and took his golden torc, greatly demoralising the Sdarids and ending that particular threat to Baevin. In 490 BGAM the tribune Harok answered a challenge and strode forward for the ritual exchange of insults before battle. While he and his opponent berated one another (with neither probably understanding a word), a raven perched on Harok's helmet. The Sdarids took this as an evil omen and swiftly quit the field.
Almost as though they followed a calendar, about once per generation the Sdarids launched a mass invasion of Baevni lands. Driven by new tribes crossing the Seihdh-Soul-Sea, themselves moved by population increases to the east, the wars continued with neither side able to gain an advantage. Sdarid gains from these movements were balanced by Baevin's increasing dominance over the Culiv-speaking peoples of Gwereinmáchlídbhrógh.
However Sdarid leaders suffered a key weakness throughout their history in this period: their near-total lack of geographic sense blinded them to larger political realities. They continually passed up chances to attack while Baevin engaged in life-or-death struggles with other Gwereinmáchlídzí, such as the Kulgumzí, Lohinzí, Shumgzí, Ehopzí, in addition to the non-Gwereinmáchlíd Horidjzí from the north who had by now conquered Gulubi and were advancing on Gwereinmáchlídbhrógh. Then, when Baevin had no such distractions, the Sdarids would attack alone. Had they taken advantage of any of these opportunities, which occurred over the course of about one-hundred years, there is little doubt that Baevin would have perished.

When Ungar-Harukin, the glorious Horidj general, led his elephants south against Baevin in 469 BGAM, many Sdarids he crossed on his route - in what is today western Haiho land - joined his forces, but the tribes made no concerted effort to intervene in the war. Instead, they waited until Ungar-Harukin had been defeated and then attacked the Baevnizí. This time, the tribes of western Haiho met their final defeat and came under direct Baevni rule. But conflict between Sdarid and Baevni was far from over - this was only the beginning of an epic and, for the Sdarids, tragic saga.[/indent]
[*]460-403 BGAM[indent][indent]'To plunder, butcher, steal, these things they misname empire: Mark where their carnage and their conquests cease! They make a solitude, and call it — peace!' — Calgacus, A [i]Laird[/i] of Clan Esher of the Culldinoan Tribe[/indent]

The most influential individual in Sdarid history in this period (or perhaps in any other period before) had no Sdarid blood himself. Gijer Dul completely overturned the Wesdarid world in a series of military campaigns designed primarily to enrich himself and increase his political power at home. The destruction of hundreds of thousands of lives, massive property, and nearly a whole civilisation, just happened to be the collateral damage from Dul's ambitions.[/indent]
[*]457 BGAM[indent]Population movements from Easdara (eastern Sidara) started the chain of events that led to the Baevni conquest. The Auldeahui, a Sdarid tribe allied to Baevin, had long-standing feuds with the neighbouring Afurihn to the southwest of their lands and the Coaduagh to the northeast. The powerful Xunikghza tribe, belonging to a nomadic non-Sdarid people called the Kurgamish, had also been moving southward for some decades already, and had formed an alliance with the Sdarid [i]Rhighacd[/i] of Noegaera. The Coaduagh, also friends of Noegaera, used this connection to invite the Xunikghza to cross the River Chjelbui running through Wesdara and help them in their war with the Auldeahui. As the Xunikghza king Curxknga had made himself a friend to Baevin through his alliance with Noegaera, the Baevnizí ignored Auldeahui calls for intervention.
Things changed when the Huidinogh tribe began to move eastward from their lands in what is now northern-eastern Wesdara. Overpopulation, and the fear of advancing Kurgamishzí, led them to seek new lands to the west. Their [i]Laird[/i], Uorsein-Gator, asked permission to enter Baevni-ruled Wesdara. Gijer Dul, just named proconsul, brought his army up and engaged them, inflicting defeat on them. Unswayed in their determination to find new homes, the Huidinogh sought out a different route.

The Coaduagh, eager to create more problems for the Auldeahui, gave the Huidinogh and their allies, the Baoruio, free passage through their lands and into the Auldeahui territory. The Auldeahui called on Baevin to save them.
Gijer Dul answered promptly, falling on the Huidinogh as they besieged the Auldeahui capital. He smashed the tribe, selling tens of thousands into slavery. He allowed the Baoruio to return to their homelands. With the Auldeahui saved from one threat, he next turned to Curxknga and ordered him to leave Wesdara. The Kurgamish king refused, and Dul marched quickly to fight him as well.
The Baevnizí fought the Xunikghza with unusual fury, charging them so fast that the legions did not even throw their javelins before crashing into the Kurgamish shield-wall. The Kurgamish broke under the attack, and Baevni cavalry (many of them Sdarid auxiliaries) rode down the survivors. Curxknga escaped, but the Baevnizí slaughtered both of his wives and most of his children.
Gijer Dul had what he had come for: a major military victory over an ancient foe of Baevin. He had even fought and won a second major battle over a different enemy, an unexpected bonus. His battlefield skills became the talk of Baevin, exactly what he needed to further his political ambitions.
Dul returned to Western Gwereinmáchlídbhrógh for the winter, disposing of his profits and engaging in long-distance politicking; he could not re-enter Baevni Gwereinmáchlídbhrógh itself without giving up his proconsulship. Using his new-found wealth, he recruited two new legions among the Baevni settlers and assimilated Sdarids of Toga-wearing Wesdara, as the Baevnizí called the parts of Wesdara they had conquered. He neither requested nor received approval from the Senate to raise these troops, a major breach of Baevni law and custom.[/indent]
[*]456 BGAM[indent]At some point during this winter, Dul seems to have realised that he could gain even greater profit from a war of conquest in Wesdara. So when the winter ended, he claimed that the Golturae tribe had massed their tribes for an attack on his army, quartered in the lands of the Coaduagh. The Golturae certainly had made ready for war, minting special gold coins to finance the effort and calling in mercenaries from as far away as Northern Easdara. One Golturae clan, the Rhaemigh, tried to defect to the Baevni side. The [i]Rhigh[/i] Guilbuo of the Golturae, belonging to the Suosaenu clan, led a huge Golturae army against their capital.
Gijer Dul sped north, accompanied by his senior staff and, most importantly for his own fortunes, a whole retinue of slave dealers. He rejoined his army and led them on one of his famous forced marches to relieve the Rhaemigh. The Baevnizí caught Guilbuo's army in the midst of crossing a river and inflicted a massive defeat on them. The coalition swiftly began to break up, with individual clans withdrawing to defend their homelands from the Baevni onslaught. The Baevnizí chased down the fleeing clans, killing ten of thousands of their warriors. Shocked by the rapid defeats, the older men and boys left at home to garrison the oppida (a Sdarid form of fortified town) surrendered at the approach of the Baevnizí, often without a fight.
One Golturae clan, the Magaeruic, vowed to never surrender. Considered the most warlike of the Golturae, the Magaeruic had a reputation for hating Baevni traders, considering them liars and cheats. Taking this vow as the insult to Baevin the Magaeruic surely intended, Gijer Dul quickly marched against their capital.
But the Magaeruic had studied Baevni ways. They knew that Baevni armies always halted before nightfall to build fortified camps, and would choose ground for defense. The Magaeruic plotted the Baevni march route, predicted where Dul would halt, and, when his men scattered to cut down trees and dig ditches, the Magaeruic were waiting. They swept out of the trees in a silent charge, having put aside their war trumpets and boasting. It was a remarkable display of discipline, and it almost changed history. The Magaeruic got in among the Baevnizí before they could form up to use their devastating close-order tactics and managed to turn the battle into a series of swirling group and individual duels – the sort of fighting at which the Sdarids excelled.

Only the personal leadership of Gijer Dul and Heikus Albintus, the X Legion’s veteran commander, kept the three legions present from being slaughtered. While they held off the Magaeruic and tried to reform their ranks, the other three legions of the army arrived in formation and drove into the Sdarids. The Magaeruic fought furiously, even heaping up their dead to make ramparts, but they finally broke and fled, leaving behind thousands of dead. This time, though, the dead also included a huge number of Baevnizí.
The campaign ended with the defeat of the Agatugh, who had marched to join the Magaeruic but recoiled from the dangerous ambush plan. Instead, they pretended to surrender their capital and then attacked the Baevnizí. Dul had his men ready, and the Agatugh were crushed. Fifty-three thousand of them marched off to Baevin in iron chains.

Many Easdarid warriors had crossed the Seihdh-Soul-Sea to participate in the war against Dul and the Baevnizí. Most of these fought as mercenaries, paid by the Golturae to help bolster their own forces. Some [i]Lairds[/i] of the tribes related to the Golturae also dispatched warriors of their own volition, as the arguments of the Golturae leaders had convinced them that there was more at stake in this war than simply honour or land. The Baevnizí were shocked by the ferocity of these men, and surprised at the much greater proportion of fighting women among them than were found amongst the Wesdarids. Few were taken prisoner as the Easdarids tended to kill themselves first, but the handful who were captured were savagely put to death.

These Easdarids were generally larger than their Wesdarid counterparts and had darker hair and skin, betraying the fact that they were likely mostly of the Culldinoan Tribe of northern Easdara. Those of the Culldinoan Tribe were the most likely among the Sdarids to paint their bodies for combat (usually blue, using azurite clay). Female warriors at times clad themselves in black robes to increase their fearsome appearance; they were also sometimes found as guards sworn to protect religious sites (chiefly, sacred oak groves).[/indent]
[*]455 BGAM[indent]Gijer Dul spent the winter once again in Western Gwereinmáchlídbhrógh defending his political position. Many in Baevin now feared the power represented by his new-found wealth and private army. When spring came in 455 BGAM, he ordered his legions to start building a fleet of warships on the Seihdh-Soul-Sea's coast. At about the same time, the tribes of Uiwghreim rose in revolt against Baevin.
During the previous year, the tribes living in what is now south-eastern Haiho accepted Baevni rule without resistance after the fearsome defeats suffered by the Golturae, but during the winter, they had time to reconsider and found they hated the Baevnizí once they got to know them. Led by the Veucioghr, the Sdarid world’s greatest sailors, they now called together their warriors and prepared to attack the Baevnizí.
The Veucioghr used their fleets to retreat away from oppida threatened by Dul's land forces. The Baevni fleet moved to stop them, and in a great naval battle destroyed Veucioghr sea-power. Using long grappling hooks to shred the rigging of the Sdarid vessels, the Baevnizí immobilised them so they could either board them or set them on fire. With their fleet eliminated, the Veucioghr surrendered. Dul put all of their leaders to death and sold the entire tribe into slavery.
For his last campaign of the year, Dul marched against the Maorheghn, who lived on the coast of the Haiho Sea in what is now north-eastern Haiho. The Maorheghn, who had not sought this war, did not want to risk the same fate as their Golturae neighbors. They burned their own oppida and withdrew into the deep forests, daring the Baevnizí to follow. Dul tried, but his plan to simply cut down the entire forest proved impractical and he sent his troops into winter quarters with the Maorheghn still free of Baevni rule.[/indent]
[*]454 BGAM[indent]For several years, Dul had been planning to invade the Culldinoan, across the Seihdh-Soul-Sea in northern Easdara. It would be a great feat of arms to cross the sea, something no Baevni had ever done. Culldinoania - as the land was called by the Baevnizí - had tin, and many Baevni traders wanted to control both these mines and the huge market for Baevni wine that then region had become. Finally, Dul despite his ambitions remained a Baevni at heart, and Baevin never tolerated a threat. The appearance of Culldinoan warriors fighting alongside the Golturae proved that this land needed to be subjugated.
Before the fleet could sail, however, two Kurgamish tribes, the Huksunkxa and the Twoxtiq, crossed into northern Wesdara. Dul marched to expel them, and the Kurgamish leaders proposed a three-day truce. During the truce, a skirmish broke out between Kurgamish cavalry and Sdarid horsemen serving Dul's army. When the Kurgamish chieftains came to meet with Dul, he used the fight as an excuse to imprison them and then quickly marched his army to launch a surprise attack on the leaderless Kurgamish.
Believing the Baevnizí would honour the truce, the Kurgamish had no guards posted, and their warriors scrambled to arm themselves even as the Baevnizí began killing their people. Dul ordered that no one be spared: 430,000 Kurgamish men, women, and children were put to the sword. In Baevin, the Senate coldly refused to grant Dul the honours of victory, accusing him of staining the army’s reputation. Something spectacular had to be done to regain the public’s favour.
A Kurgamish tribe on the other side of the River Chjelbui refused to hand over the survivors who had escaped the massacre. Taking this as pretext for invasion, Dul had his men build a bridge over the Chjelbui, a great feat of engineering. His army then spent eighteen days burning farms and murdering Kurgamish non-combatants before withdrawing back over the river and dismantling the bridge. Another feat would have to be accomplished, and soon.
While most of his army went after the Maorheghn again, Dul took two legions and invaded Culldinoania. Having spotted the approaching ships waiting for a favourable tide, the Culldinoan donned their blue war-paint and met the Baevnizí right on the beach. Many waded into the surf or drove their chariots into the water to attack the Baevnizí. The outnumbered Culldinoan could not hold for long, though, and eventually Dul's men forced their way ashore and set up a beachhead. Despite this temporary success, Dul found that he was unable to consolidate his position and was forced to withdraw before winter returned.[/indent]
[*]453 BGAM[indent][indent]'Culldinoania - avoid that unusual and extravagant word as the sailor does the rock.'— Gijer Dul[/indent]

Dul could not allow the defeat to stand, and sold his withdrawal to the Baevni public as merely the planned result of a reconnaissance in force. He spent the winter once again tending to his political position and writing a guide to Culiv grammar, recommending a forceful and direct style. His troops spent the winter building more ships, and, when spring came, Dul found six-hundred vessels ready for his use. In addition, hundreds of traders, slave dealers, adventurers and political lackeys attached themselves to his headquarters. And, to spite his political enemy Durmikio Onbrasokus, Dul brought along an elephant as well. Onbrasokus’ grandfather rode an elephant when he conquered south-western Wesdara for Baevin, and Dul planned to do the same when he added Culldinoania to Baevin's empire.
Before he could leave, Dul learned of a planned uprising by the Tuiopu, Wesdara's leading cavalry power. He marched quickly to cow their [i]Laird[/i], Eigomar, who handed over two-hundred hostages in a pledge of good behaviour. With that settled, the invasion of Culldinoania could begin in earnest.
This time, five legions made the trip, along with two-thousand Sdarid cavalry. Dul got ashore without opposition and quickly moved inland to confront the nearest tribe. But once again a storm damaged his fleet. While Dul had spent the winter in preparation, so had the tribes of Culldinoania. Several of those in the south had placed their warriors under the command of Cel-Duibur, [i]Laird[/i] of Clan Esher and widely considered Culldinoania's best general.
Cel-Duibur ordered his men to employ guerrilla tactics against the Baevnizí. They withdrew before major forces and tried to filter behind the Baevni advance guards to fall on supply trains and isolated units of soldiers. While Dul sought a decisive battle, the wily Sdarid drew him ever further away from his ships and the route back to Wesdara. Dul fought his way across the River Dhoium with the help of his elephant, and accepted the surrender of the Tuihroam, an important tribe. But Cel-Duibur now disbanded most of his army, keeping four-thousand chariot-riders and sending many of the rest slipping back past the Baevnizí for a surprise attack on their beachhead. Dul and a small personal guard rushed back to the camp, but by the time they arrived the one legion there had smashed the uncoordinated Sdarid attack.
With his plan now foiled, Cel-Duibur decided to give up. Gijer Dul took a few hostages and went back to Wesdara before winter storms made the passage impossible. While he declared the mission a great success, the Baevni public was less than impressed. Already, his political hopes seemed to be fading.
Wesdara had suffered poor harvests in 453 BGAM, and so Dul spread out his eight legions in separate camps for the winter. The Sdarids saw their opportunity and rose in a series of coordinated attacks in the fall of the year with the Magaeruic in the lead. The Eiburion, a Golturae tribe, led by their [i]Rhigh[/i] Umberuiss, wiped out one legion and killed half of another. When Dul rushed to relieve one of his legions, he found the Magaeruic building siege works copied from Baevni practice, hacking away at trees and earth with their swords since warriors would never touch a shovel. While he saved that camp, the Sdarids were learning and learning fast.[/indent]
[*]452 BGAM[indent]This time, Gijer Dul spent the winter among his troops, trying to repair their fading morale and madly recruiting replacements. He raised two new legions, plus a third to replace the lost unit. In addition, he convinced his political ally, Xorna Mrognis (Xorna the Magnificent) to lend him troops from Xorna's army in the lands north of Wesdara. But as the winter progressed, the news got worse: Xorna's wife, Cuia, died in childbirth. He seems to have genuinely loved her, but theirs had been a political marriage – Dul was her father. Soon, that alliance would start to fray.
The Sdarids remained busy as well, bringing more adherents to their cause. Once again, they launched a winter campaign, striking the Baevnizí at their most vulnerable. Sdarids, considering war a sport, preferred to fight during summertime, but they managed to put aside these practices, and fought in the dreary rains and snow. Baevnizí huddled around their fires learned to fear the dark nights. When spring came, Dul responded, and, in a series of campaigns, managed to subdue the Magaeruic and their allies. Albintus scored a smashing victory over the Tuiopu, and broke their power.
As the campaign in the north dragged on, however, Sdarids from other regions began to see Baevni vulnerabilities. The powerful, well-organized tribes of Central Wesdara had been bypassed by Dul's earlier campaigns – probably because of Baevni commercial interests there, and because they seemed most apt to assimilate to Baevni ways quickly and easily. They might have stayed quiet, but news from Baevin showed the Republic to be at its end, and this gave new courage to Baevin's Sdarid enemies.[/indent]

[*]451 BGAM[indent]With Cuia dead, Dul's political alliance with Xorna crumbled. The great Baevni general now had to devote all of his energy to holding his proconsulship since his long list of enemies would quickly destroy him should he lose immunity from prosecution. Baevin's immediate future lay in the relationship between its two greatest leaders, not in its institutions. Sdarid leaders, chiefly the Culldinoan, Cor-Haedeil of the Uraegier, realised this. Haedeil had been one of Dul's hostages during the Culldinoania campaign and now explained to his Wesdarid counterparts just how much the Baevnizí depended on their leader. Agreeing, the Sdarids began their campaign with an attack on the Baevni grain depot at Hurfna, wiping out the garrison and executing many Baevni traders for cheating Sdarids.
Responding to Haedeil and impressed by the daring assault on Hurfna, 20-year-old chieftain Vercin-Gator of the Orfeinugh led his troop of cavalry out of Baevni service and began to gather tens of thousands of warriors. He then sent a force deep into the western Baevni Wesdara to harass the Baevnizí.
Gijer Dul sped back and made a daring ride through Sdarid-controlled territory to reach his army in Eastern Wesdara. Showing his usual speed and energy, he marched west to face Vercin-Gator, who ordered the tribes in his path to burn their oppida and fields to deny the Baevnizí food and shelter. In an unusual development for the Sdarids, however, the Baelgund had become attached to their capital, Hoerv. Most agreed it was the most beautiful of all the Wesdarid oppida, and the Baelgund believed its huge walls made it impregnable. Vercin-Gator agreed to its defense, and brought up his army nearby to harass the Baevnizí as they laid siege to the fortress.
Dul's troops built a pair of huge ramps, each sporting a tall siege tower. Between them, a terrace of tree trunks held up the whole structure. When the ramps approached the wall, a daring Sdarid raiding party managed to slip out of Hoerv one night and set the Baevni siegeworks on fire. The defenders poured out to finish the job, and the Baevnizí counterattacked. After fierce fighting, they pushed the Sdarids back into the town. The next day, helped by a driving rainstorm, they pushed the surviving tower up to the wall and breached the defenses. When resistance finally collapsed, Dul ordered everyone in Hoerv put to the sword.
Next, the Baevnizí marched on the Orfeinugh capital, Kierkaroafa. Vercin-Gator's army harassed them the entire way. When the Baevnizí reached the oppidum, they found a powerfully-built mountaintop fortress. However, the Orfeinugh had allowed their allies to build walled camps adjacent to their walls, and the Baevnizí easily managed to penetrate these hastily-built lines. When they assaulted the walls, though, a counterattack cut off the raiders and destroyed them. A few days later, Dul withdrew to the east.
Kierkaroafa was the only defeat the Baevnizí suffered under Dul's direct command, and it had wide-ranging effects. The unbeatable Baevni had been beaten. Tribes that had wavered in their allegiance now rushed to support Vercin-Gator. Even the Auldeahui chieftains, those long-time allies of Baevin, threw their swords at the feet of the young Orfeinugh [i]rhigh[/i]. Dul united all ten of his legions and recruited  Kurgamish mercenaries to bolster his forces.
Vercin-Gator now held the initiative – rare for the Sdarids in their struggles with Dul – and attacked western Baevni Wesdara again. Dul, as the Sdarids well knew, had no choice but to head west to defend Baevni territory. The Wesdarids launched a surprise attack on Dul's army with their cavalry, but Vercin-Gator held back his foot soldiers, probably due to his youth and inexperience. What could have been a stunning victory instead led to the loss of thousands of Sdarid horsemen.
Vercin-Gator withdrew to the nearby oppida of Peilugin, and Dul followed. This time, the Baevnizí constructed elaborate siegeworks to ring the Sdarid town with ditches, barricades, and walls. The Sdarid [i]rhigh[/i] sent out clouds of riders to raise all the tribes of Wesdara to come to his aid, and they responded. All of Dul's old enemies marched on Peilugin, including some he had claimed to have exterminated: the Magaeruic, Veucioghr, Huidinogh, Maorheghn and more. In all, forty-three tribes sent warriors. Even the Uraegier of Southern Culldinoania sent four-thousand warriors, and the Wesdarids chose the Uraegier [i]laird[/i] Haedeil to lead the relief force.
While the Wesdarids assembled, Dul's men frantically built a second line of fortifications facing outward. Three times Sdarid attacks failed to breach the Baevni lines, and, after the last one, Baevni and Kurgamish cavalry rode down thousands of Wesdarids. Haedeil could not hold the relief force together, and tribe after tribe defected and went back home. Running out of food, Vercin-Gator decided to surrender. Dul allowed the Orfeinugh and Auldeahui to return home and made the rest slaves, giving one prisoner to each Baevni soldier as a reward.
Vercin-Gator was made to surrender in an elaborate ceremony and was then sent back to Baevin in chains where he was ritually strangled in Dul's honor six years later.
After the epic defeat at Peilugin, Haedeil and his diehard Uraegier went west to continue resistance, joining with the Baehlir to attack the Rofnigh, the pro-Baevni tribe in eastern Wesdara. Dul marched east to relieve the Rofnigh once again. He found the Baehlir camped behind a thick swamp, and had his men build portable bridges to cross the wet ground and attack the Sdarids. The Baehlir [i]laird[/i], Caerus, had his men gather huge quantities of brush and sticks and pile them into a massive wall in front of the Baevnizí. When the Baevnizí approached it, they set it on fire and ran in the opposite direction.
Caerus set up a new ambush for the Baevnizí, but a Kurgamish mercenary betrayed his plans to Dul, who sprang an ambush of his own on the Baehlir. Caerus refused to surrender, hacking down every Baevni who approached with wide swings of his sword. Surrounded by Baevnizí, he still would not give up, and so they stood back and riddled him with arrows.
Next, Dul headed north to deal with Umberuiss of the Eiburion, who still decorated his house with the heads of the Baevni legates Schubnu and Qitud from his destruction of their legions two years earlier. But Umberuiss took to the woods and conducted a guerrilla campaign, killing isolated Baevni soldiers but refusing to meet them in open battle. Dul chose not to continue the effort in bad weather and sent his troops into winter quarters. After a winter spent defending his political position via letter and messenger, Dul returned to the field and mopped up the Quihuitan, who had a fortress that seemed invulnerable and had laid in huge supplies of food. However, the Baevnizí figured out how to divert the streams that fed the springs on which they depended for water. The Quihuitan surrendered, and Dul ordered his troops to cut off the hands of all who had borne arms against the Baevnizí.[/indent]
[*]403 BGAM[indent]The [i]ap Morig[/i] invade first Baevin and then Sidara, alongside their lumbering, [i]Alluidh[/i]-riding green minions - the [i]ap Gynurk[/i].
[hider=Detail]In their eternal hunger for expansion, the [i]ap Morig[/i] erupted from across the western sea and utterly destroy Baevin, before extending their hands towards Sidara. The initial invasion by these eldritch beings and their lumbering, [i]Alluidh[/i]-riding green minions - the [i]ap Gynurk[/i] - was really nothing more than a raid, but eventually hordes of the [i]ap Gynurk[/i] landed, led by their eldritch overlords, and the Sidarid clans - disunited and ever embroiled in internal wars and feuds - could do nothing before their dread horror.[/hider][/indent]
[*]393-7 BGAM[indent]The period of Sidarid subjugation to the [i]ap Morig[/i]. By 10 BGAM the power of the [i]ap Morig[/i] had largely waned, and their last strongholds fell to Sidarid clans in 7 BGAM. Now the [i]ap Morig[/i] occupy a position directly opposed to the gods in the Sidarid weltanschauung, and are the manifestations of all things evil. It is said that their descendants dwell even to this day beyond the western sea, plotting and scheming and planning the release of their forefathers and the reconquet of Seihdhara.
[hider=Detail]The period of Sidarid subjugation to the [i]ap Morig[/i]. Various parts of the region fell into the power of the [i]ap Morig[/i] over the centuries, but never all of Seihdhara at any one point. Their rule was always hindered by constant clan risings and rejection of foreign subjugation, as well as invasions by clan confederations that retained or had re-established their independence.
One of the early confrontations between the Sidarids and ap-Morig came after the ap-Morig devastated and conquered the south Wesdarid Geihuim tribe.

With the utter devastation of Baevin clear for all to see, and the intention of the [i]ap Morig[/i] to invade Sidara clear, the remaining major tribes quietly made their deals with the [i]ap Morig[/i] - the Eugein and Uraegier becoming client kingdoms. One [i]rhigh[/i] Coalighn would not rest, though, and continued to organise resistance in what is today north-eastern Haiho. The Sheoline of eastern Haiho became fanatical supporters, and an [i]ap Morig[/i] grand magicker set out after him with a terrifying horde.
Coalighn finally was cornered by the grand magicker in 349 BGAM, turning to give them battle to protect the huge column of refugees, mostly women and children, which his army had acquired. [i]ap Morig[/i] dread-horror overcame the Sheoline’s fury, and the Sdarid army broke up. The [i]ap Morig[/i] fell on the camp followers, slaughtering many and seizing thousands as slaves, including Coalighn’s wife and daughter.
This disaster seems to have taken the will out of the great Sdarid [i]laird[/i], who instead of falling back with the Sheoline went east across the Seihdh-Soul-Sea in response to an offer of aid from the Builagnh. Their scheming warrior-[i]bhaenrhigh[/i], Mhundacara, promptly threw him into chains and gave him to the [i]ap Morig[/i]. Her husband, Fineic, considered this a dishonorable act and open warfare broke out between the royal couple. Mhundacara also began sleeping with her husband’s shield-bearer to deepen the insult.
Fineic defeated his wife’s faction, and the [i]ap Morig[/i] rushed across the Seihdh-Soul-Sea to reinstate their vassal. Meanwhile Coalighn went in chains to the ruins of Baevin, where the [i]ap Morig[/i] had established their temporary capital. There Coalighn was pardoned by the mysterious overlord of the [i]ap Morig[/i] and sent into exile, where he was reunited with his family.

After Coalighn went into exile, the the [i]ap Morig[/i] did nothing, and the Sdarids remained quiet for the next decade. In 335 BGAM, a new grand magicker took charge in the east. An ambitious creature, it aimed to further the conquests of the [i]ap Morig[/i] by subjugating the rest of Wesdara and crossing the Seihdh-Soul-Sea. Gathering great hordes in what is today eastern Haiho, near the offshore island of Bui-Ghuilo. The site of the largest [i]Wyndyn[/i] groves in Wesdara at the time, the new grand magicjer considered Bui-Ghuilo a hub for rebellious movements. From there, the [i]Wyndyn[/i] encouraged resistance to the [i]ap Morig[/i], and there they also trained their “wild women” female warriors.
The grand magicker mounted an amphibious assault across the narrow channel separating Bui-Ghuilo from southern Haiho, and slaughtered the [i]Wyndyn[/i] in their groves. The Wild Women fought ferociously, dying to fulfill their oaths to defend the sacred site. Exiles from [i]ap Morig[/i]-conquered areas had gathered there, and these men and women died fighting or were massacred. At least some Oergeinu and Dacuilean tribal warriors from nearby areas fought there as well, but could not stop the Romans from hacking down the ancient, sacred oak trees.
While the grand magicker engaged the [i]Wyndyn[/i], it received word of a massive rebellion clear across Wesdara, in what today is the southern-most peninsula of Wesdara. 

Cliodhna, a Clan Mwryfin warrioress of th Eugein tribe whose husband, Paelug, had decided to submit to the [i]ap Morig[/i] rather than fight them, had led her people in a series of attacks on [i]ap Morig[/i] colonies, burning several and slaughtering the eldritch settlers. For while Paellug's decision bought Clan Mwryfin and teh Eugein some respite from the incessant [i]ap Morig[/i] attacks, it proved exceptionally unpopular with his people. Paelug died under mysterious circumstances, leaving leadership of the tribe to his daughters, and naming the mysterious overlord of the [i]ap Morig[/i] co-chief with them. The idea of [i]sharing[/i] power - with women! - was clearly viewed as an affront by the [i]ap Morig[/i], and so they struck out to educate the 'savages' on their place in the hierarchy. Cliodhna, to whom the daughters had an obligation of obedience, was now the effective Chieftess, and so was publicly flogged by the [i]ap Morig[/i] and her daughters raped. Severeal of Cliodhna's relatives were also sold into slavery.
Her honour injured and her people thirsting for freedom and revenge, the Chieftess assembled her forces and waged relentless war against the [i]ap Morig[/i], inflicting humiliating defeats upon them and razing to the ground a number of the major cities they had established in Wesdara. 
The timing, and the documented presence of Wild Women among several of the warrior hosts including as a personal guard to Cliodhna, hints that the [i]Wyndyn[/i] prompted the uprising in an attempt to divert the grand magicker from his assault on their sanctuary. Cliodhna certainly waited some time between her disgrace and calling for armed resistance. If this was the intent, it failed, for the grand magicker had just accomplished his goals when word arrived of the uprising. It marched quickly back to face the Eugein.
Cliodhna had assembled a large army, and the grand magicker fell back before her forces and summoned further minions to subdue the upstarts. Cliodhna led thousands of charioteers, who somehow managed to hide their vehicles from the [i]ap Morig[/i] invaders.
She eventually met her match at the Battle of Foul Finn's Field, when the grand magicker had all its forces gathered and was able to face the Chieftess. It turned to face the Sdarids and Cliodhna obliged with a mass charge. Her troops did no better with the tactic than the Wesdarids had a hundred years earlier against the Baevnizí, and tens of thousands of Sdarid warriors perished. Many members of Clan Mwryfin perished and the clan was eventually exterminated in its entirety. Cliodhna's exact fate is undetermined, though it is said the [i]Arwynden[/i] know but have refrained from making it public knowledge. It has passed into Sidarid folklore that, having survived Foul Finn's Field with her daughters, the Queen escaped across the veil into the spirit realm and will return with the warriors of Clan Mwryfin when the eschatological final battle against the [i]ap Morig[/i] draws nigh.

Despite the many defeats inflicted against the Sdarids, the [i]ap Morig[/i] never penetrated far into Easdara and by 10 BGAM the power of the [i]ap Morig[/i] had largely waned, and their last strongholds fell to Sidarid clans in 7 BGAM. The memory of this great invasion by foreign forces, and the horror of the [i]ap Morig[/i], has left an indelible mark on Sidarid culture and ways - for the [i]ap Morig[/i] occupy a position directly opposed to the gods in the Sidarid weltanschauung, and are the manifestations of all things evil.[/hider][/indent]
[*]4-20 OGAM[indent]The departure of the [i]ap-Morig[/i] means that the Sidarids return to doing what they do best - warring with and killing each other. Clan Esher, an important clan in Easdara, emerges as a major player during this period under the leadership of [i]Laird[/i] Ruahthain.[/indent]
[*]40 OGAM[indent]The Haiho Clan's lands are united for the first time and the Haiho Righacd is established to the north of Clan Esher, across the Seihdh-Soul Strait.[/indent]
[*]46 OGAM[indent]Tensions over the passage of shipping and trade through the Seihdh-Soul Strait leads to conflict between Clan Esher and the Haiho Righacd. Clan Esher loses its [i]Laird[/i] of the time, a warrioress by the name of Mhyruih and suffers tremendously, but the appearance of a [i]Wyndyn[/i]-Prophet turns the tides. With the strait now secured, a [i]Duthchas[/i] (great council of the clans) declares the Esher Laird rightful [i]Rhig[/i] (King). The Esher [i]Righachd[/i] is established.[/indent]
[*]47 OGAM[indent]Episode of the Malcontents.
The newly-ascended [i]Rhig[/i] Fhuiric is forced to deal with malcontents who had not cast their votes for him at the [i]Duthchas[/i]. The [i]Duthchas[/i] becomes the official advisory body representating the clans. In time, the [i]Duthchas[/i] become a directly elected parliament. An ancient ritual, called the [i]Hyscadal[/i] (‘the Bull’s Vision’), is reinstated after to solidify the [i]Rhig's[/i] position and bolster his legitimacy.
[hider=Detail][i]Bhaenrhig[/i] Fhuiric is forced to deal with some malcontents who had not cast their votes for him at the [i]Duthchas[/i]. It is agreed that a [i]Duthchas[/i] should always be in session to act as an advisory body to the [i]Rhigh/Bhaenrhig[/i] and as a permanent representative of the interests of the realm's clans. In time, the [i]Duthchas[/i] would grow into a directly elected body (though still referred to as the [i]Duthchas[/i]). This would come to be known in Esheran history as the Episode of the Malcontents. An ancient, likely mythological, ritual, called the [i]Hyscadal[/i] (‘the Bull’s Vision’), is reinstated after the Episode so as to solidify the [i]Rhig's[/i] position and bolster his legitimacy beyond further challenge.[/hider][/indent]
[*]58-90 OGAM[indent]Under the leadership of the legendary [i]Rhiglaird[/i] Seihdhos, the south Easdarid Clan Aujvint manages to unite and commence a thirty-year war of Sidarid unification which, by the death of Seihdhos, sees its territories encompass all of southern Easdara from the sea to the Esher Righacd. This enormous empire was dubbed, with Seihdhos' dying words, Great Seihdhar.[/indent]
[*]109 OGAM[indent]The Rape at Byc.
The Auldeahui of Wesdara rose against Great Seihdhar together with the Tretuioligh. Their leaders, Suorig and Bion, tried to convince local clans and soldiers to join them. They brought over very few of these men, and relied mostly on a collection of escaped prisoners, tribal warriors, and bankrupted farmers.
Though the Auldeahui managed to equip their men with weapons and armour, they could not overcome the gap in training and experience. The Auldeahui managed to take the provincial capital, Goelgai but were trapped there. A school there taught the sons of leading Sdarid households the Baevni and Héiswaep classics, rhetoric, and the other fine points that the [i]Rhiglaird[/i] wished to inculcate in the Sdaird ruling classes. Almost all of them joined the doomed rebellion. After holding out for several weeks, Suorig and his men set the city on fire, and then killed themselves in a mass suicide.
The [i]Rhiglaird[/i] saw traditional Sdarid education as the root of this rebellion, and banned [i]Wyndyn[/i] and bardic schools, overlooking that the most fanatic rebels came from the ranks of students enrolled in the official institutes the state had set up. The [i]Rhiglaird[/i] did not abolish the Sdarid religion - such would have been a step too far - only the schools, and both [i]Wyndyn[/i] and bards continued their lessons in caves, deep forests, and other out-of-the-way locales. The [i]Rhiglaird[/i] believed that the [i]Wyndyn[/i] helped spread rebellion. Past [i]Rhiglairds[/i] had begun the trend to repress the [i]Wyndyn[/i] by forbidding them from gaining citizenship. The new one, facing increasing resistance to centralisation from the [i]Wyndyn[/i], followed through to the logical conclusion of past policy by banning [i]Wyndyn[/i] altogether. [i]Wyndyn[/i], he felt, sparked rebellion by challenging his political authority and using their information networks to spread anti-state propaganda. Thus a campaign to sideline and remove [i]Wyndyn[/i], either via execution or by having them renounce their druidic ways, was launched. This first period of persecution culminates in the massacre of a group of [i]Wyndyn[/i] near the great town of a’Cheimbyc. Following this, many [i]Wyndyn[/i] go into hiding while others flee to other Sidarid lands.[/indent]
[*]136-138 OGAM[indent]The [i]Treiwynd[/i] Rising against the [i]Rhiglaird[/i]. Practised human sacrifice. Led to a civil war which resulted in Clan Braeg and its various sub-clans and allies breaking away from Great Seihdhos.
[hider=Detail]The [i]Treiwynd[/i] Rising against the rule of the [i]Rhiglaird[/i]. A zealous group of [i]Treiwyndyn[/i] gathered together a group of clans, foremost amongst them Clan Braeg, under the banner of the 'true and ancient faith' of the Sidaric people. This involved the 'rejuvenation' of human sacrifice, including wicker man burning, hanging, beheading, drowning, and immolation. The [i]Rhiglaird[/i] attempted to crush the Rising, but this resulted in civil war. Clan Braeg, with the support of the zealous [i]Treiwyndyn[/i] and its various sub-clans and allies, was able to fight off the [i]Rhiglaird[/i] and establish independence. Despite this setback, Great Seihdhos would cross into northern Sidara not long after and continue its drive to unite the Sdarid race and rid them of the [i]Wyndyn[/i] blight.[/hider][/indent]
[*]161 OGAM[indent]The Great Decree of 161 issued fixing every clan's clan-lands into permanent, untransferrable property of the clan. All land not delineated as clan-land becomes crown land.
[hider=Detail]The Great Decree of 161 is issued after nearly a decade of careful delineation and consultation with every clan in the realm. The Great Decree fixes every clan's clan-lands, and makes these clan-lands the permanent, untransferrable property of the clan as a whole. Individuals from a clan may own and make use of the land, and it may even pass into the hands of those not of the clan, but the land remains clan-land and can at any point be reclaimed and redistributed as the clan sees fit. All land not delineated as clan-land automatically became crown land with the passage of the Decree. Crown land is effectively public property and can be used freely, but the [i]Rhig[/i] can ultimately reclaim and redistribute it at will, or designate it be used only for particular purposes (e.g. grazing land, farming land). The Decree is revolutionary and effectively marks the crown's ultimate authority over the clans.[/hider][/indent]
[*]214-29 OGAM[indent]Griffri the Bear of Clan ap-Filigin campaigns against the invaders.
[hider=Detail]Griffri the Bear leads Clan ap-Filigin in one of the first successful campaigns by north Sidarids against Great Seihdhos. His nearly two decades spent fighting the empire would later be canonised in the epic poem known as [i]ih'Griffeada[/i]. Griffri became a source of inspiration for the Clan Gweilaerth chieftain Saenuo, who proclaimed himself Griffri reborn. He would go on to establish the Gweilaerth Confederation, with Clan ap-Filigin playing an important role in his successes.[/hider][/indent]
[*]230 OGAM[indent]Establishment of the Gweilaerth Confederation.[/indent]
[*]357 OGAM[indent]The Rising of Clan ap-Gwynnud against Great Seihdhos. The Esher Righacd, under the heroic Warrior-[i]Rhig[/i], Der-Ilei Bridu, having for some time suffered due to Great Seihdhos' control over the World-Water Strait, took this as an opportunity to strike. Using the ap-Gwynnud cause as its excuse, it landed troops and secured the strait. Fearful that the Esher Righacd's involvement will result in a general collapse of Great Seihdhos - to the benefit of the Esherans - both the Haiho Righacd and Gweilaerth Confederation declared war on Great Seihdhos. The resulting conflict saw the empire's lands reduced somewhat. Ultimately, the uncertainty of its foes, and their distrust for one another ensured it managed to hold onto more of its territories than it otherwise would have.[/indent]
[*]454 OGAM[indent]The bardic order, the [i]Cumannfil[/i], is formed.[/indent]
[*]527-34 OGAM[indent]Mad Galam's Rebellion.
[hider=Detail]Mad Galam, son of chief Haeini of Clan MgGrregah, leads a concentrated insurgency in the mountainous regions of the MgGrregah clan-lands. With the mountains to hide in, Mad Galam and his men sow discord in the Haiho Righacd.
The reason for his uprising has become the subject of jests and legends, but one particularly popular story relates that an Clan Haiho herder stole one of Galam's goats and slaughtered it for food. Enraged by this thievery, Mad Galam then declared his eternal war on the lot of them. Today the phrase "go a' Galam" refers to an, often violent, over-reaction to something or someone - 'Finor tripped up Balar, then Balar gaed a' Galam oan his head'. 'He bolted intae a dyke 'n' hurt his foot, sae he gaed a' galam oan it wi' a hammer'.[/hider][/indent]
[*]534 OGAM[indent]Mad Galam slain at Galam's Stand.
[hider=Detail]Mad Galam is finally slain at what is today called Galam's Stand. The highland warrior had descended from the safety of his mountains to meet with his beloved Ailen in a secret cottage in Aeld Aega's forests off the Blaejays river. Unbeknownst to him a treacherous lumberjack whom Galam had at one point or another humiliated had reported his frequent excursions to the authorities.
The highland clansman was ambushed there but was able to fight his ambushers off for a time and escape with Ailen. However, the two were eventually cornered atop a hill and there, claymore in hand and loosing the mountain-bear's song, Galam made his final stand.[/hider][/indent]
[*]564 OGAM[indent]The [i]Cumannfil[/i], Sidara's bardic order, welcomes visual artists of all stripes into its ranks and permits their presence at the annual [i]Tionilfil[/i], the great Sidarid gathering of poets and musicians that has taken place since time immemorial.[/indent]
[*]600 OGAM[indent]Present[/indent][/list][/hider]

[hider=Stats]Esher Ríghacd
Land Area: [16 - 10] = 6
Land Fertility: [16 + 4] = 20
Development: 12
Land Power: [15 + 5] = 20
Naval Power: 14
Economy: [5+1] = 6
Magical Reserves: [18+2] = 20
Magical Sophistication: [17 + 3] = 20
Population: 21,780,000

SIDARIC NPCs:

Clan ap-Gwynnud
Land Area: [2+2] = 4
Land Fertility: 7
Development: 1
Land Power: 10
Naval Power: [5-4] = 1
Economy: 2
Magical Reserves: [8+2] = 10
Magical Sophistication: [5+5] = 10
Population (50000 (7 * (4*.55) * (1*.55)): 423,500

Haiho Ríghacd
Land Area: 13
Land Fertility: [18+2] = 20
Development: 8
Land Power: [19+1] = 20
Naval Power: 3
Economy: 3
Magical Reserves: [5+1] = 6
Magical Sophistication: [19+1] = 20
Population (50000 (20* (13*.55) * (8*.55)): 31,460,000

Clan Braeg
Land Area: 8
Land Fertility: 4
Development: [6-5] = 1
Land Power: [7 + 13] = 20
Naval Power: 2
Economy: [11-5] = 6
Magical Reserves: 8
Magical Sophistication: [18 + 2] = 20
Population (50000 (4 * (8*.55) * (1*.55)): 484,000

The Gweilaerth Confederation
Land Area: 6
Land Fertility: [18+2] = 20
Development: 3
Land Power: 5
Naval Power: [19+1] = 20
Economy: 4
Magical Reserves: 4
Magical Sophistication: [12+2] = 14
Population (50000 (20 * (6*.55) * (3*.55)): 5,445,000

Great Seihdhar
Land Area: [8 + 10] = 18
Land Fertility: [16 + 4] = 20
Development: 10
Land Power: [18 + 2] = 20
Naval Power: [7 - 2] = 5
Economy: [11 - 7] = 4
Magical Reserves: [2 - 1] = 1
Magical Sophistication: [2 - 1] = 1
Population (50000 (20 * (18*.55) * (10*.55)): 54,450,000[/hider]


[hider=Notes on the Sidarid Language]
Csíbhrògh = Surabhumi
Cúneacsbhrògh = Sanghara
Csízí = Surabhumans
Cúneacszí = Sangharans
bhrògh = land
zí = suffix to make a word plural e.g. Csí = Surabhuman; Csízí = Surabhumans
[/hider]


[hider=Masks]
'The use of masks dates back several millennia. It is conjectured that the first masks may have generally been used by primitive people to associate the wearer with some kind of unimpeachable authority, such as "the gods" or to otherwise lend credence to the person's claim on a given social role.'
'Ritual masks occur throughout the world, and although they tend to share many characteristics, highly distinctive forms have developed. The function of the masks may be magical or religious; they may appear in rites of passage or as a make-up for a form of theatre. Equally masks may disguise a penitent or preside over important ceremonies; they may help mediate with spirits, or offer a protective role to the society who utilise their powers.'
'In West Africa, masks are used in masquerades that form part of religious ceremonies enacted to communicate with spirits and ancestors. Examples are the masquerades of the Yoruba, Igbo, and Edo cultures, including Egungun Masquerades and Northern Edo Masquerades. The masks are usually carved with an extraordinary skill and variety by artists who will usually have received their training as an apprentice to a master carver - frequently it is a tradition that has been passed down within a family through many generations. Such an artist holds a respected position in tribal society because of the work that he or she creates, embodying not only complex craft techniques but also spiritual/social and symbolic knowledge.'
'Many African masks represent animals. Some African tribes believe that the animal masks can help them communicate with the spirits who live in forests or open savannas. People of Burkina Faso known as the Bwa and Nuna call to the spirit to stop destruction. The Dogon of Mali have complex religions that also have animal masks. Their three main cults use seventy-eight different types of masks. Most of the ceremonies of the Dogon culture are secret, although the antelope dance is shown to non-Dogons. The antelope masks are rough rectangular boxes with several horns coming out of the top. The Dogons are expert agriculturists and the antelope symbolizes a hard working farmer.'
'One of the most beautiful representations of female beauty is the Idia's Mask of Benin in present-day Edo State of Nigeria. It is believed to have been commissioned by a king of Benin in memory of his mother. To honor his dead mother, the king wore the mask on his hip during special ceremonies.'
'The Senoufo people of the Ivory Coast represent tranquility by making masks with eyes half-shut and lines drawn near the mouth. The Temne of Sierra Leone use masks with small eyes and mouths to represent humility and humbleness. They represent wisdom by making bulging forehead. Other masks that have exaggerated long faces and broad foreheads symbolize the soberness of one's duty that comes with power. War masks are also popular. The Grebo of the Ivory Coast and Liberia carve masks with round eyes to represent alertness and anger, with the straight nose to represent unwillingness to retreat.'
'The variety and beauty of the masks of Melanesia are almost as highly developed as in Africa. It is a culture where ancestor worship is dominant and religious ceremonies are devoted to ancestors. Inevitably, many of the mask types relate to use in these ceremonies and are linked with the activities of secret societies. The mask is regarded as an instrument of revelation, giving form to the sacred. This is often accomplished by linking the mask to an ancestral presence, and thus bringing the past into the present.'
'In Indonesia, the mask dance predates Hindu-Buddhist influences. It is believed that the use of masks is related to the cult of the ancestors, which considered dancers the interpreters of the gods. Native Indonesian tribes such as Dayak have masked Hudoq dance that represents nature spirits.'
'Korean masks have a long tradition associated with shamanism and later in ritual dance. Korean masks were used in war, on both soldiers and their horses; ceremonially, for burial rites in jade and bronze and for shamanistic ceremonies to drive away evil spirits; to remember the faces of great historical figures in death masks; and in the arts, particularly in ritual dances, courtly, and theatrical plays.'
'The nō mask is the supreme achievement of Japanese mask-making. Nō masks represent gods, men, women, madmen and devils, and each category has many sub-divisions.'
'Masks have long been used in military connections. A war mask will have a malevolent expression or hideously fantastic features to instill fear in the enemy. The ancient Greeks and Romans used battle shields with grotesque masks (such as Gorgon masks) or attached terrifying masks to their armour, as did Chinese warriors. Grimacing menpō, or half masks (generally covering the face below the eyes), were used by Japanese samurai.'

 masks: objects depicting gods or heroes or monsters which, when worn, imbue in the wearer the qualities of the depicted thing. The wearer becomes in many aways an avatar of the depicted thing.

since the world is full of crazy demons and cowpeople, Sidarids need something to even the odds a bit. So this would make it so warriors in warmasks can go blow to blow with your typical monstrosity
It's justified by the magic roll and the land power
for fertility, the abundance of crystals itself has an effect on the land's fertility in my headcanon, but farmermasks likely improve Sidarid farming techniques immensely
and so on across all things
in religious festivals, a Wyndyn can likely communicate with spirits or wear a mask and be possessed by, say, a recently departed person or an ancient sage or whatnot
who can then be spoken to
it can be used in criminal disputes for instance - speak to the spirit of a dead person, or be possessed by it, so that it can bear witness or some such
many possibilities
[/hider]


[hider=ON CELTS]
Celts organize themselves by family, clan, and tribe, related by blood and marriage. Related tribes often cooperate in war and trade and are sometimes led by temporary kings and queens who have managed to gain influence over other tribes. There are several distinct nations among the Celts, however.
Celtic speech falls roughly into a core group of closely related languages, and several less-closely related tongues spoken on the periphery of the Celtic world. The Gaulish, British, and Belgic languages, as well as that of the Galatians, are mutually understandable. In each case, however, the reluctance of Celts to travel widely means there are many dialects spoken within each region.
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After crushing the rebellion and driving the Egyptians back into their own lands, Antiochus called up twenty elephants from his reserve elephant training center at Babylon and marched against the Celts. The Celts drew up in their usual order of battle, with 80 scythed chariots in the center with their infantry, and their cavalry on the flanks. Antiochus and his generals spread the elephants along their front. The Gauls opened the action with a charge by their cavalry and chariots. The elephants moved forward to meet them, and the horses panicked at the sight and smell. Terrified charioteers drove their vehicles into the mass of Celtic foot soldiers, mowing them down where they stood. The cavalry fled in all directions. Antiochus sent the elephants forward into the disordered Celtic formation, where they wrought havoc on the Celts, tusking and stomping warriors, grabbing others with their trunks to be stabbed by Antiochus’ men riding the beasts. When the Seleucid phalanx (Macedonian veterans settled in Syria) moved forward, the battle was already over. Few of Antiochus’ other troops even drew their weapons. Antiochus therefore gave all honors to the elephants, erecting statues of them all over his kingdom. ...Greeks still hate and fear the Galatians, accusing them of cannibalism, necrophilia, and worse. ... And more than two centuries later, Galatians still hate elephants.
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These Celtic subjects of Rome are subject to rank exploitation, and many are unhappy with their foreign rulers. A common Roman scam undertaken by corrupt officials is to force loans on Celtic chieftains, insisting that they accept money they neither want nor need. Inevitably, the money is soon spent on potlatches and feasts. Then the loans are collected by force, and, when the chieftains can’t pay the debts, the payments are exacted in form of slaves.
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Celtic culture may have originated on the island that the Romans call Britannia, though this development took place over a widespread area including much of the European continent. By 600 BC the technology and practices of the Hallstatt culture had firm roots in the southeastern part of the island. 
Britain’s most famous ancient monument, the structure on Salisbury Plain known as Stonehenge, greatly predates the Celts. It is known throughout the Celtic world and is the subject of many legends. However, its religious significance to the Celts at least is much less than later Celtophiles will make it out to be. Most Celts hold it to be proof that giants once walked the earth or at least that the island’s former inhabitants wielded great powers.
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Celtic community has a large number of slaves, usually the personal property of the chieftain. Slaves are considered less than human but cheaper than animals and worked accordingly. They try desperately to escape and, as a result, are usually bound by iron chains for their entire lives. ... Slaves are chattel – the property of their owners – to be disposed of on a whim. An owner can kill a slave with impunity. They are often used as currency... The division between worker and slave is sometimes hard to define, beyond the absence of chains. Neither participates in battle, nor are they allowed to bear arms. They trail along behind the Celtic armies to do the hard work that always accompanies war: making camp, cutting wood, preparing food, tending animals, digging fortifications, and a thousand other thankless, backbreaking tasks. The working Celt wears a heavy cloak with a pointed hood. Women of these classes by definition have no honor. Thus, they cannot be raped. They can marry, but only with permission of their clan or tribal chief. Interbreeding between the classes is considered highly offensive; there are no mixed marriages. They share with their menfolk an utter inconsequence in the eyes of the law. Because of the relatively liberal sexual mores of the Celts, their workers and slaves are at least spared the sexual oppression and repeated rape of slaves in Roman or German hands. A Celtic warrior might cast his eye at a comely serving wench, but would lessen his own honor if he forced himself on her. ...Some workers must serve the warrior and priest class directly as maids, footmen, body servants, and other household employees.
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Celts are not very good bargainers and are thus often cheated. Greek and Roman merchants realize this, and do very profitable business with the Celts. They usually deal directly with the producers and consumers, but in some of the larger oppida there are native merchants. Celts are divided on the question of whether one base-born can handle weapons. Some blacksmiths are commoners by birth, while others are from the warrior class. These warriorsmiths specialize in arms. Some of them work in smithies from an early age, while a handful of them are injured warriors unable to continue in battle. There are a number of other craft workers – weavers, brewers, carpenters – who do no farm work, yet are not warriors or priests. They lack the privileges of the upper class, yet those upper classes realize they cannot treat them with the same callous disregard they do the peasantry. They are unlikely to be speared or chopped in half during a warrior’s drunken rage. But this is a result of need, not respect.
...
While the concept of trade is well-known to the Celts, very few of them take up a career as a merchant. Celts don’t like to be separated from their families and tribe. As a result, most trade among Celts is very short-ranged. Foreign traders bring items from far away, some of which are greatly desired by the Celts. Wine tops the list of popular imports. Family and tribal bonds regulate Celtic commerce rather than laws. A tradesman does not cheat his customers because it would be dishonorable to do so, not because he fears punishment by the non-existent government. Roman, Greek, and Carthaginian merchants have found it very easy to cheat the Celts for this reason since they often have no reason to look for dishonesty. However, should a Celt catch a foreigner in a lie, he or she will usually become enraged. Little is more fundamental to a Celt than the power of the truth, and they usually believe themselves honor-bound to kill liars on the spot. These peoples also differ in their definitions of “lie:” what a Celt believes to be a black-hearted deception worthy of death, a Greek might merely describe as a “negotiating tactic.”
...
Celts normally do not engage in long-distance trade themselves.
...
In the quest for status, ownership of exotic goods helps confirm a leader’s higher order of being. The Celtic elite drink wine rather than ale and also greatly desire the accessories that go with wine-drinking: bronze wine jugs or fine pottery cups – so that any onlookers will know they are drinking wine and not merely ale. For it does no good to spend on luxury if no one sees you do it. Celtic craftsmen make fine clothing and weapons, and the elite enjoy these. But to truly show off their wealth and power, they need luxury goods from lands far away. Luxury goods of obvious foreign origin are greatly desired, and important to maintain status. There is little difference between buying such goods and taking them as loot in wartime; the result in increased status is the same. A Roman trader who can provide these goods will find a warm welcome among the Celts even as the same warriors swear to kill all others of his people. In exchange for these products, Celts sell slaves from among their own tribes. Rome has an insatiable demand for expendable human labor. They also sell metals, both refined and as ores. Cattle and livestock head south, as well as salted and smoked pork (Romans like pork and are amazed by Celtic methods of preservation). Celtic woolen goods are in very high demand: the brightly colored Celtic woolen cloak has become a Roman status symbol. A small amount of grain goes from Gaul to Roman territory... Most Celtic tribes, even those living along the coast, are not sea-faring people. The concept is understood, but Celts rarely look to the waters. There are exceptions. The Veucioghr of Western Gaul, the region that will one day be called Brittany, build huge wooden ships with deep keels. They equip them with cowhide sails and rig them with chains rather than the ropes common in most of the nautical world. These ships conduct trade up and down the Atlantic Coast. Some of the Belgae also maintain smaller ships, conducting limited commerce between Albion and Gaul. Trade has enriched the Veucioghr, one of the handful of Celtic tribes to depend on commerce rather than agriculture. ... Among the Celts, most travelers are out for adventure, trying to gain status by imitating the traveling heroes of adventure stories. Otherwise, travel is unusual. Most Celts never leave an area more than 10 miles from their birthplace except to go to war. In a huge exception, sometimes entire tribes will uproot themselves and migrate to a new homeland. Celtic fertility (both human and agricultural) is easily capable of overpopulating a tribe’s territory, and something has to give. When this happens, the tribe moves out as a whole rather than send out a limited number of colonists. Huge wagon trains trail behind the vanguard of warriors, as 50,000 or more people march across the land. These movements usually spark wars – few tribes are warm to the notion of crowds of strangers wandering through their fields and eating their crops and game. And as the Celts have a very loose grasp of geography, these wandering tribes rarely have a very clear idea of just where they are going; they can march about for years, sometimes in circles, until they find a suitable place that’s either uninhabited or home to a weaker people they can defeat and drive away. This of course puts the losers on the road in the same condition. Such a migration sparked the current war with Rome. The Huidinogh left their Alpine homes during famine in search of greener pastures. The tribes in their path, long-time allies of the Romans (and scorned by other Celts for this reason), called on the southerners for help. Rome has no love for the Celts, even those it calls its allies, but its political factions agreed that the profitable trade with Celtic Gaul could not be interrupted. Roman troops answered the request. Once invited in, the Romans did not leave Gaul. They utterly smashed the Huidinogh, slaughtering or enslaving tens of thousands to such an extent that later historians won’t even be sure if the Huidinogh were Sdarids or Kurgamish.
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At the top of the Celtic social heap is the warrior class. The Romans call them knights, but this is not an accurate portrayal (ownership of a horse has no bearing on warrior status). Chiefs are always chosen from the warrior class, and a man’s ability to wage war effectively is the best test of his fitness to lead. A warrior has the right to bear arms and to wear the status symbols of his or her class: golden torcs around the neck and arm rings (see below) and, for men, the characteristic flowing mustache. Warriors do not belittle themselves with manual labor: when not fighting or training for war, they hunt and sometimes will work metal (considered a noble occupation). And they drink copious amounts of alcohol while discussing their feats. Their privileged status gives them the time and inclination for adventuring; after all, unless their tribe is at war, they have nothing better to do than to try to make themselves into heroes worthy of legend. The more unusual the adventure, the greater the status gained for undertaking it. Celts believe there is magic in the world, and the most desirous adventures involve investigating the unknown. Simply going off and killing something or someone is also enjoyable to the Celtic warrior, but that sort of entertainment can be found close to home. The greatest warriors even change their name, taking on a nickname that somehow relates to their accomplishments. For example, the Orfeinugh military leader Vercin-Gator name translates as “Great Leader of Warriors.” No one knows his real name; this is held secret lest it be used in magical attacks against him. Warriors often busy themselves with minor skirmishes against other tribes and clans. Cattle-raiding is a common pursuit and is not considered a major crime. If the owner wants to keep his or her cattle safe, then he or she should do a better job protecting the herd. While Celts have a definite preference for pork over beef in their diets, there is no glory to be gained in a pig raid. It’s all about the honor. Celtic warriors are usually landowners, but they do no manual labor and give little thought to managing their farms. The farmers are typically sharecroppers, and some realize that the warriors have no conception of crop yields – the shares they turn in are usually much lower than the amount demanded. As long as the ale and mead keep flowing, the peasants can cheat their landlords with impunity. There is no ladder of responsibility between the Celtic warrior and the laborers over whom he or she has dominion. The warrior feels no responsibility to protect them from harm, beyond the practical effect that he or she will run out of food and ale if the peasants are killed by marauding enemies. Likewise, the peasantry provides these goods because the warrior will kill them if they do not. Celtic agriculture is surprisingly productive, and the forests provide rich game as well. This allows Celtic society to support a large class of armed parasites. As many as 20 percent of some tribes fall into the aristocratic category, an astonishing percentage for any era or people. Tribes can therefore field far more warriors than non-Celtic enemies usually expect.
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There are several types of priest within the Celtic World. Some tend the great sanctuaries, stands of ancient trees that remember when gods walked the Earth. Some look after the spiritual needs of the clans and tribes and also serve as healers. Still others wander in search of knowledge. Romans and Greeks refer to all Celtic holy people as “druids,” but this is not accurate. Germans, sharing the Celtic reverence for trees, usually understand the difference.

Druid

Best remembered in the future will be the Druids, though they are numerically a rather small group. The name literally means “oak knowledge,” which refers to deep and profound wisdom rather than specific study of the oak tree. It can be more liberally interpreted as “highly wise.” Druids exist to study nature, and they hold the vital responsibility of determining planting and harvest times. They also serve as veterinarians. Though they cloak their utterings as divine directives and doubtless believe them to be so, the practical effect is that they enforce quarantine of diseased herds of domestic animals and thus keep losses much lower than those suffered by other peoples. They study the weather and stars in their quest for agricultural knowledge and are their tribes’ keepers of this information. Druidic medicine is closely related to the study of nature and plants: they tend the sick with herbal remedies. Disputes are often settled by Druids, and they enforce their decisions by refusing to allow violators to sacrifice to the gods. The gods only recognize sacrifices overseen by Druids; thus these priests can cut off divine favor from those who displease them. Druids do not pay taxes and are exempt from military service, although they are allowed to go to war if they wish. For a Druid to fight against another Celtic tribe is considered a very bad breach, but wielding weapons against a German or Roman is acceptable. Druids come from the warrior class; a commoner cannot easily be elevated to such lofty status. It’s thought that most Druids are women, though few non-Druids ever see enough of these priests to form a useful opinion. In Gaul, one male Druid is elected as Supreme Druid for life and reigns from the territory of the Carnutes tribe in north-central Gaul. In case of disagreement between Druids, he renders the final verdict. A would-be Druid learns the many necessary skills at one of the Druidic gatherings where senior members teach the young. It is a hard course, with massive rote memorizations. There are no school buildings as such: several of the more wealthy tribes host these sessions for the prestige they garner. The teaching itself usually takes place in an oak grove, and the site is often consecrated. Trees are sacred to Druids, especially the oak, but buildings are not. They have no more use for monumental architecture than other Celts. Some have made use of the ancient monument of Stonehenge, which they find interesting, but the site is not holy. Nature is holy to Druids, and Stonehenge is obviously the work of human beings. The Druids are also impressed by the gigantic Great Menhir found in Armorica (latter-day Brittany), but, like Stonehenge, they view it with academic curiosity rather than religious awe. While the future will label Stonehenge and just about every other carved rock in the Celtic lands “Druidic” in origin, the Druids themselves would laugh at such an association. Human sacrifice is not common among the Druids, but it does occur. As a practice, it has died out among all the continental Celts and is only found in Albion. There, the more warlike tribes still propitiate their war gods with the blood of their enemies. Among many tribes, there is a strong belief that the world is constantly threatened by evil, and it is the Druids who hold this evil at bay. High-ranking Druids are often siblings of tribal chiefs, and their counsel is sought in political matters. Druids are whole-hearted supporters of the war against the Romans and a major driving force of the resistance. Romans in turn find their ways barbaric and assault the sacred groves in an effort to stamp out the religion. Romans are not, as a rule, religious bigots: it is the political role of the Druids in stirring up resistance that makes them an enemy. The Romans will eventually be very successful in this effort; Christian Romans a few centuries hence will wipe out most records of the Druidic faith. The latter-day “Druids” found in the 21st Century are a neo-pagan revival incorporating many disparate beliefs in addition to the early Celtic religious system. Druids interact fully in the Celtic social system, attending feasts and drinking themselves silly. They repair to their groves for religious rites, discussions with other Druids, and sometimes for meditation, but they are not divorced from their community.

Vates

A second, and less well known priestly class among the Celtic people are the Vates (literally, “seer”). Vates are rare on the continent and are most often found in Ireland and sometimes in Albion. They interpret sacrifices and natural phenomena to determine the will of the gods. Vates keep the great calendars, and maintain shrines in sacred groves. They have a great practical knowledge of mathematics, but refuse to apply this to worldly pursuits. Instead, they carefully study flights of birds, clouds, dreams, storms, and sticks thrown on the ground to sense divine will. To be touched by the gods is to court madness, and many Vates are not quite right as a result. Unlike Druids, Vates (called Ovates in some Celtic dialects) do not truly fit in with Celtic society. Warriors fear what a drunken Vates might spill and are uncomfortable with their attendance at feasts. Tradition ties a Vates to his or her sacred grove, and they rarely wander from this site. Everyone likes it better this way.

Banfáith

Only women can become banfáith, a sort of combination priest and bard. They share the bard’s abilities with music and song, undergoing training at bardic schools (see Chapter 7). But during their training, it becomes obvious that they have other powers as well: their songs and poetry show a knowledge of future events. Ollamh, those wise master teachers, are always watching for this ability in their students but seldom encounter it. Because this power could be used to political advantage, banfáith pass from the bardic community into the care of the priestly class. They join the Druids in the sacred groves, using their abilities to aid the Druids and vates in their divinations. A banfáith is not allowed to wander like typical bards, and thus some choose to disguise this ability rather than be tied to the Druids.
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Authority in the Celtic world usually descends along bonds known as clientage. An individual or group pledges loyalty to a stronger individual or group, which then in turn pledges to defend the client from harm. These pledges are of course only applicable to people possessing honor and thus able to enter into contracts. While clans are family-based, there is an even more important client bond within them. The sub-chief who leads the clan is the patron of all of its warriors; they in turn are his clients. They follow the sub-chief in battle, and obey his decisions in other matters. The clans are in turn beholden to their tribal chief. This is a permanent bond; a clan does not have the option of transferring its allegiance to another tribe. The chief is typically the greatest warrior of the tribe, or the sub-chief most noted for wisdom. When a chief dies or is forced into retirement, he is often but not necessarily followed by one of his sons. Some bypass the clan system, becoming direct clients of a chieftain. These are often specialist commoners (blacksmiths, brewers etc.) or warriors seeking to attach themselves to an accomplished battlefield leader. There is usually no penalty for leaving a patron’s entourage: if he or she wants to keep a herd of followers, then they should do a better job providing for them. The chief is the living embodiment of the gods’ favor. Though not a god himself, he is a semisacred being. He is symbolic of the land and especially its fertility. If the chief becomes sexually impotent, crops will fail, and he must be replaced. While it is not rigidly enforced that a failed chief must die, he usually will choose to undergo a ritual sacrifice to give up his life and redeem his people in the eyes of the gods. A chief who wishes to maintain power must demonstrate his virility early and often; prowess in love-making is even more important than prowess in battle. Women can become chiefs and subchiefs, though this is unusual. Most female leaders worked their way close to the seat of power through marriage to a former chief. There are no formal rules barring women from power, but the informal ones are not easy to overcome. A chief must have a large retinue of clients. These give him legitimacy, and their swords can be used to force his will on the sub-chiefs. Having flocks of parasites to sing his praises helps as well. A chief ’s clients are individually bonded to him; because this bond usually passes to his children, it gives a dead chief ’s son a powerful advantage in taking his father’s place. Tribes also have clients, in this case other, smaller tribes that seek protection from a larger and stronger group. This is very common in Gaul, where Roman pressure has frightened many small tribes. In these cases, the smaller tribe gives hostages to the larger to assure its loyalty and good behavior. These hostages are young men, up-and-coming warriors from leading families. They fight alongside the tribe’s chief in wartime and often become close friends with him, his family, and the other tribal leaders. It is considered very bad form to openly discuss that these same close friends will merrily slit the throats of the hostages if their client tribe misbehaves. Women are sometimes traded as hostages as well; it is a social violation to demand or offer a female hostage, but it is considered a highly honorable act for a woman to volunteer. She thus gives honor to the tribe accepting the hostages (she is indicating a regard for their honor – that she knows no harm will come to her) and to her own, as her display of bravery reflects on all of her people. Trading hostages is a Celtic tradition to seal bargains between clans or tribes. It is understood that the holder may execute the hostages if the agreement is violated, but this rarely happens. Instead, social bonds are reinforced by the hostage’s stay in much the same manner as fostering children. Arranged marriages between ruling families are another form of hostage-giving, though once again it is bad form to openly suggest that the daughter given in marriage will be killed if her father breaks his word to her new in-laws.
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when a tribe gains a number of other tribes as its clients the dominant tribe’s chief has taken to calling himself “king.” There is no Celtic Empire and very few Celtic states in the modern sense, but this development is pointing in that direction. These kings are much more common in tribal alliances opposed to the Romans, and some of them are beginning to build the trappings of formal government such as regular coinage and officials in charge of organizing the war effort. The concept is so new that there is no accepted process by which a new king is chosen when one dies, or how a king might be deposed. But the Celts are finding that loose coalitions of tribes simply can’t stand up to the Roman military machine. Defeat fractures them, and tribes that feel they are bearing an unfair burden defect to the Roman side. Gallic chiefs now realize that they must surrender some of their power to a higher authority, who can bring the full might of Celtic Gaul to bear against Caesar’s Romans.
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A leader is known by the number and quality of his or her followers. While the Celts have been a settled people for many generations, they still carry cultural memories of their wandering years. Gold and cattle, both of them easily transported, are the measure of wealth. A famous warrior attracts others, some of them hoping to learn or sharpen new skills but most wanting to simply bask in the reflected glory. And a warrior can take no pleasure in great deeds without someone to adore them. It is a symbiotic relationship - in this age long before any form of mass media, heroes need jock-sniffers. These people are called “parasites”; literally, “fellowdiners” (the word will come to have a negative meaning only centuries in the future). To help inspire such adulation, a prospective leader must keep his or her followers in meat and alcohol. Little is more important to the Celtic warrior than hospitality. This is meant both in the modern sense of graciously providing food and shelter for visitors and strangers, and in the sense of keeping a retinue of followers. One achieves greatness through reputation, and one of the unspoken truisms of Celtic life is that a reputation for valor in battle is greatly enhanced by a good dinner spread. The warrior provides the food and drink, and, in return, those who consume it confirm the warrior’s greatness. A warrior can accept hospitality from one of lesser status though never, ever from a slave or peasant. The warrior takes from these people; it is never an option for the peasant to make a gift to a lord. The warrior can’t accept a lesser warrior’s hospitality very often, however, without imperiling his or her own status. For a great warrior to visit the home of an up-andcoming warrior and accept their food and drink is to convey great status on the youngster. To do so too often is to become subservient to the other, and the typical Celt would rather die than give up status. A mediocre warrior cannot become great by handing out lots of good food, but he or she can most certainly gain a reputation for adequacy by these means. Likewise, those who feel slighted in terms of feasting will find their memories of the host’s great deeds in battle becoming ever less great with the passage of time. A skilled bard, preferably one of fili status, helps the guests understand the host’s greatness by composing ballads to their good qualities. As the proper Celtic warrior also recites poetry, the host hopes that these songs of their greatness will stick with the diners and be repeated elsewhere. Bards and fili are perfectly willing to inflate one’s deeds in exchange for a good meal, and a well-fed host of admirers will nod their agreement. However, part of the bard’s code is that they are not required to praise their host; they can sing their song about anyone present. If the host fails to please the bard with food or gifts, inviting him or her to the gathering can very definitely backfire. Part of the bard’s skill is to craft the song of praise in such a manner that the audience is not exactly sure who the subject might be until the very end.
...To truly gain a great reputation, one must host visitors. This gives adventurers a great advantage, for if they are of the proper social standing, warriors across the Celtic world will want to offer them hospitality. The host can then tell the visitors of his or her great deeds and gain the admiration of a new audience. Hopefully, they will be so impressed with their host that they will spread word of his or her greatness. Polite Celtic society will refer to the host’s valor or wisdom rather than the quality and quantity of food and drink, but all know what is really meant. The chance to spread status to other clans and even other tribes – possibly even to foreign peoples – is not to be passed up and is a worthy investment of resources, however. Traveling Celtic warriors will find themselves able to gain food and shelter as in no other setting, real or imagined. The social rules for hosting strangers are very strict. It is extremely bad form to ask a visitor’s business before they have had food and drink. The level of trust involved is very high, and no Celtic warrior would dream of breaking these bonds. Non-Celts feel very differently, and are happy to use this naiveté against the Celts, who will very innocently invite enemies into their midst or enter their lair alone and unarmed. That they would be harmed in the guise of hospitality is literally unthinkable to the Celt. It is a violation so grievous as to be completely alien to Celtic thinking. Similar to the status-related feast is the tradition known as potlatch. Along with food and drink, the host also gives out gifts. These vary depending on the status of the host, but at the top rungs of society they can be very expensive: gold, jewels, well-crafted golden items, exquisite weapons, and the like. Those who accept the gifts – and it is a deadly insult to decline – then are obligated to return the favor at a feast of their own as best they can. Potlatch competition can become fierce, and wealthy warriors are known to become destitute in the search for greater status. At the extreme end, some are known to give away their entire worldly wealth and, at the climax of the feast, stab themselves in the heart with their last belonging, a dagger held back for this purpose. Thus, they die happy, having achieved the maximum possible status among their peers. Older warriors at the end of their run are particularly known for this final act.
A variation of potlatch giftgiving is to bestow one’s possessions on the gods. Richly decorated shields, weapons and other ornate items are buried or thrown in rivers supposedly to honor the gods, but actually to impress other people. Even severed heads are donated in this manner. This yields a sneaky advantage in the race for status: gifts given in a potlatch increase the wealth of those who receive them, thus giving them that many more resources for the competition. Those given to the gods are taken out of the game, and do not benefit rivals. The status-climber can’t do this too often, lest the tactic become obvious, but it can be very effective when chosen at just the right time.
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Silver is not popular among the Celts. Smiths rarely work in it, preferring gold. Silver items found in the Celtic world are usually imports, bought or looted from other peoples. Celts hold silver to be a precious metal; they simply do not find it as alluring as gold. The only Celts to use much silver are the Galatians, and those from Southeastern Europe (the area that will someday be known as the Balkans). Contact with the Greeks and especially the Thracians (known as master silversmiths) has heightened their appreciation for this metal, and they are even known to make torcs and arm-rings from it. Other Celts scorn these decorations as second-rate, but their owners seem quite fond of silver’s brightness.
...Celts like gold, and both men and women like jewelry very much. Most important of these is the torc, a heavy gold neck-piece unique to the Celtic world. As the neck connects the head to the body, so does the torc symbolize the connection of the spirit (embodied in the head) to the material world (the body). When Celts strip off their clothes for battle, the torc always remains in place. If a warrior is not wearing his or her torc when battle breaks out, putting it on is even more important than seizing weapons. The torc is sometimes rather thick; the huge amount of gold embodied in it symbolizes the wearer’s wealth and power. Celtic warriors also wear arm-rings, smaller and thinner versions of the torc placed around the upper arms, about halfway up the bicep. These are usually more for ceremonial use than the torc since a warrior can easily lose his arm rings in battle if he sweats heavily, and a ring tight enough to stay in place is also thought to needlessly constrict the arm muscles while swinging a sword. Like the torc, arm-rings are always made of gold. Both men and women wear rings on their fingers, usually made of gold. A heavy brooch fastens their cloak, and it’s not unusual for a Celt to wear several just to show them off. Sometimes arm-rings are accompanied by a matching set of ankle-rings, though these are usually limited to warriors who intend to fight naked, as otherwise they would be obscured by trousers or tunics. Earrings are the sign of a magician; the typical Celt refuses to wear them. Those few who do call such attention to themselves wear very plain earrings: small, simple hoops of gold. Enemies of the Celts, particularly the Romans, are well aware that fallen Celtic warriors can be the source of great riches. Celts will also loot the dead, but this is considered shameful and is not practiced openly: the looters sneak back to the battlefield after dark. To take a dead hero’s torc lacks the honor of taking his head, but it is a valuable piece of metal and few value their honor over a pound or two of gold if they can get away with it.
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The basic unit in the structure of Sidarid society is the household. This is made up of two parents and their offspring. Each of these parent may have other spouses, and they may in their own right be the founders of another household. Thus one person may be the head of multiple households with different spouses, those same spouses may in their own right head different households also. This creates for an extremely complex basic structure and relations which are multi-faceted, interconnecting, but ultimately tight-knit. 
The unit above this is the clan unit, formed of many households - dozens, or even hundreds.
As clans grow, distinct sub-clans begin to form. These sub-clans become full-fledged clans in their own right with time, and the mother clan  transitions into a tribe. This process is repeated with the tribe. Once sub-tribes begin to break off from the mother tribe, the mother tribe loses its tribe status and becomes a nation. All the tribes that break off from the mother-tribe-turned-nation identify with that nation and the people belonging to that nation. There can be multiple layers of nationhood - e.g. Clan Esher belongs to the Culldinoan tribe of the Breioan nation, a sub-nation of the Maedior nation.
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A mound of memorial stones found throughout Celtic lands, especially in significant places such as atop mountains. Like the stone slabs called dolmen and the fairy mound, or sídh, the structures were built by persons unknown long before the Celts, probably to mark the sites of graves. Some cairns have inner chambers; these were probably used as burial sites. Also like sídhe and dolmen, the mounds were incorporated into Celtic myths and rituals and became sacred places to the Celtic people.
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Cattle were an important source of food and leather for the ancient Celts, who built stone fences, many of which are still in use today, to keep their herds from straying
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