Cruithneach
: Tanistry of Cruithneach
Population: 800,000
Location:(If you can put it on the map tell me. 2-4 provinces max.)
Capital City: Caeredin is the historical seat of power, and is the residence of the Brenin and Brenhines.
Resources: Iron, Tin, Copper, Coal, Horses, Stone, Timber, Game, Domestic meats (Sheep, Cow and Chicken), Fish, Grain
Luxuries: Game, Fur, Wools, Horses
Government Type: Tanistry - a system unique to Cruithneach, Tanists are the princes and princesses of the previous ruler. All landed vassals of the old leader vote on who becomes the next leader, Brenin or Brenhines. Upon being granted the title of Brenin on Brenhines, the new ruler's children become the next Tanists. In the event that a Brenin or Brenhines dies without leaving any Tanists, the system reverts to pure Elective Monarchy. As a result, Dynasties are seen as unimportant. Brenin and Brenhines are a separate rank from King and Queen and are both seen as higher - the female Brenhines has more power than a male King and vice-versa.
Economy Type: Open trade, with tariffs on any import that can be generated at home
Leaders and Generals:
Brehin Iôr
Queen Brethwyr
Tanist Rhiau
Tanist Caileigh
Tanist Iõbus
Tanist IIôra
Lord Balthwyn
Lord Aerin
Lord Balfour
Lady Leagsaidh
Lady Una
Lady Aoibheann
Culture Description:
The people of Cruithneach are hard-nosed, tough-minded and patriotic to the extreme. The people themselves also have a reputation for being quite tough and fearsome, despite the national stereotype of the pretty, pale, blonde young lad that seems so prevalent outside of Cruithneach.
The land is cold, wet, windswept and rough, which is reflected in the people's attitudes if not their looks. Behind the ghostly complexions lies shy, straightforward and hardy people. Ceremony is not something that is appreciated in Cruithneach, you see. Instead, the people have a very pragmatic approach to life, cutting out anything that doesn't help their situation. It means that whilst peasants should be able to afford a decent life by all standards, they often live like paupers, sleeping on rough furs in one-room homes that are sturdy but uncomfortable, always terrified that there will be a famine or shortage just around the corner.
Cruithneach is renowned as one of the cleanest nations in the world, with even peasants bathing at least once a week, which contributes to their feminine reputation. Not only that, but their habit of shaving just about any hair that isn't on their head, which the men trim short whilst women tend to braid or keep in ponytails. This is practical more than anything else; whether working a mill or on the battlefield, long hair is a liability, easily caught in grinding gears or grabbed by the enemy. Keeping their hair short prevents any unnecessary deaths. Likewise, the standard attire of the Cruith is a tunic and trousers - yes, even the women - for the same reason they keep their hair short.
Speaking of practicality, it is a long yet unspoken tenet of Cruith culture that women are of equal standing to men. Many of their neighbours laughed at the sight of their female warriors charging into battle amongst their husbands and sons - they weren't laughing when their heads adorned those same women's horses on the ride home. Regardless, this can seem to the outsider that Cruith people are henpecked and matriarchal.
Both before and after the Tanistry was formed, Cruithneach has been subject to constant attempts from it's neighbours and wannabe emperors to conquer the warrior nation. Despite the internal struggles Cruithneach is constantly facing, not least with the rebellious Albanwyr, ultimately their patriotic pride comes first and they have always pulled through. Something they have been less successful in countering is the raiding, which is not even funny. Chances are, if you own a slave, they are at least part Cruith. The reputation for having strong and attractive people, as well as being a moorish, mountainous and forested land that is easy for a convict to disappear inside, has lead to god-knows-how-many slaver troupes setting up to rack up some steady business. Entire villages have vanished overnight, their residents lead in chains towards uncertain futures. As of yet, there has not been a single Brehin who has found an effective counter to this.
Music is held very dear in Cruithneach, and is one of the few signs of frivolity that is permitted. As expected, they exploit the hell out of it. You will not walk through a town in this highland nation without hearing at least some kind of musician, whether it be a drummer, a singer or a flautist. The music changes significantly, depending on what time of day it is - gentle, soft tunes in the morning, joyous working songs during the day, calm and classy pieces during the evening, and ferocious beats during battle. More than one weak-willed warrior has ran screaming from the the thundering war drums, squealing bagpipes and hellish hymns that are the calling card of Cruith wards.
The life of a Cruith is the life of three men - the warrior, the worker and the family man. Ever Cruith is trained in the arts of war. The standing army is rarely seen or heard from, thanks to every village having its own self-regulating militia that deals with problems internally. Of course, work is also necessary - farmer and mining are the two major jobs that make up about 90% of peasant occupations. Bringing back the gold is necessary if a family is to be raised. It is not considered unusual for a woman to work through the majority of her pregnancy, only resting after maybe six or seven months. After birth, the baby is raised by the "agrarian" parent, or the one who tends the homestead through repairing the house and tending the farms. Families tend to be quite small, since Cruith people are the shyest in the world (D'aww). The idea of having two spouses is unthinkable for a Cruith, not because it is frowned upon or forbidden, but because it is simply so unlikely that you will work up the courage to claim two people as your partner.
Funnily enough, homosexuality is not frowned upon if one has a partner of the opposite gender, or a child. Gay men and women do occasionally take other married gay men and women as unofficial spouses, and often a gay man and a gay woman will marry for the purposes of having children, then meet another couple who has done the same. These "tŷ o bedwar"s are uncommon, but not exactly frowned upon, especially if there are children and the people are contributing to their clan.
In combat, there are three distinct pieces of equipment you'll see on a Cruith warrior. The first is his bread-and-butter, the War Pick. This strange, hammer-like weapon personifies the hard-working nature of the Cruith people, and combines deadly stabbery of a pickaxe with the blunt impact and weight of a hammer. Second, his targe. These round, spiked shields have saved many a life, and ended more than than your average shield as well. These are used most spectacularly in the savage charges that Cruiths employ to close the gaps between them and archers. The third are the throwing axes. Get too close to a detachment of Cruithmen and you'll be greeted by a hail of axes to split your skull, thrown with deadly accuracy. As you can see, the people of Cruithneach specialise in taking down heavy-armoured foes, crushing through most defences with heavy blows. The mountainous terrain and boggy marshes of their home makes short work of any cavalry, especially heavy cavalry. My advice before you fight these guys is to know the land. Doubtlessly, the Cruiths best weapon is the knowledge of the landscape and his ability to lead his enemy into hazards, such as over cliffs and into bogs, and his knowledge of weather, rendering archers useless through intense rain and thick fog.
One thing that cannot be discussed without a mention are the Albanwyr, Cruithneach's mortal enemies. How they came about is unknown, and they have become something of an urban legend, but they are very real and very terrifying to a Cruith. These amazonian, matriarchal warrior-tribeswomen show up, make short work of any resistance, then drag their spoils back to whatever hell they came from in chains. Oddly enough, they leave homes untouched. The land is fertile and precious items are not looted, leaving a perfectly occupiable village for the next hapless group of settlers to claim. As of yet, very little is known about them - who they are, where they came from, what they are after - and there is yet to be an escapee from their prisons. There is fear aplenty amongst the clans about these ladies, and the urban legends are many and varied.
The "Upper classes" are surprisingly similar to their lower-class kin. Part of this stems from the total lack of "royal blood" in Cruithneach, and so there is no reason for upperclassmen to pretend they are divine and superior to their lower class kin, but also because being in power is seen as a duty - almost a dangerous position. Considering that everyone you rule over is armed, trained and spends all day performing taxing physical jobs, combined with the fact that they live in close-knit communities, makes revolution a very real threat for the landed gentry. As such, landed lords are almost forced to spend tax money on Bread and Circuses to keep the people happy, occasionally holding lavish feasts for all their subjects to some along to and meet their leaders themselves. There is an unspoken degree of respect for each other, though neither class would admit it - the peasants supply the lords with food and money and the lords prevent the peasants dying of disease, war or bandit raids. One can see this in the way a lord and a commoner will interact with each other - still formal, still stiff, but almost friendly, like one would act around a close personal hero more than a leader-worker style relationship.
Military Trait:
Requires explanationCivil Trait:
Requires explanationFlaw Trait:
Requires explanationHistory: Only the Gods themselves know how old Cruithneach is, and for how long they have operated the way they have. What we do know is that prior to the official forming of the nation, the current member counties were small clans, managing their own affairs and occasionally clattering each other with claymores.
At some unknown point in history, either due to a conqueror from within or pressure from the outside world, these clans grouped together in a mutual coalition that vowed to protect and uphold each other's culture. Being so close in both geographic and cultural terms, this was not seen as a controversial move.
The result is what is now the Tanistry of Cruithneach. The system was designed so that no clan would have excessive power over the others and has, for the most part, worked. Occasionally, some upstart would try to uirn the system into a straight-up Monarchy, which lead to revolts that quickly crushed the usurper.
Military: Pending
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