TiirtaÄävot Jat

TiirtaÄävot Jat (Saljaajui for "Land of the Shining Sea") is an ancient city state located in the Anderm region of northeastern Whenua. Based around the historic Dwarven city of Dakuh Duzma, it is led by its one and only historic leader, Admiral C. Vernesteen. Although lacking in most resources and a powerful ground force, the wide access to the ocean and historical origins of its people mean it has both a thriving trade and fishing economy as well as the largest and most powerful navy in Alathra.

Pre-Foundation History
The lands upon which the Äävot Daasee now inhabit were not always theirs. Thousands of years ago, before most Alathran civilizations had begun to bloom, the BezmadanDjergr of Eth Thjar Zozr had carved themselves a mighty city of quartz and stone, Dakuh Duzma. Into the face and interior caves of the mountain lay a shining white city rich in minerals and prosperity. Unfortunately, the Dwarves, like their ancestors before them and their kin after, were too greedy. They mined the mountain dry, becoming obsessed with its value and possible jewels and minerals. They dug too far for too long. When they mined too far, unleashing eternal winter, the Dwarves had no provisions as they hadn't prepared for the cold winter months that year. Now, Dwarves being Dwarves, this was no major adversity. Yes there were some that starved or died of dehydration, but the majority of the population survived to what would've been spring. They survived long enough that they thought that crops would begin to grow anew. That's where they were met with a deadly surprise. The winter that year never let up. It hasn't for the past few thousand years since the dwarves died or froze to death, their entire population ravaged by storm. The entire peninsula was and still is surrounded by an intense winter storm, refusing to die or leave the area. The once beautiful mountain civilization would lie dormant with halls emptied of its once lively inhabitants for a thousand years and yet another thousand years over. This would remain up until the start of recent Alathran history.

History of TiirtaÄävot Jat
Roughly 500 years before present day, a group of explorers got lost in an intense winter wind.

A small caravan of ships, led by Admiral C. Vernesteen, crashed upon the shores of the Imiskee Siinny Peninsula (funnily translating to "the Mountain's Peninsula Peninsula" beacuse a few muotäi diplomats didn't quite understand the language). Vernesteen ventured towards the mountain he could see in the distance, eventually stumbling upon the gates of Dakuh Duzma. Leading his crewmates inside, they hunkered down with what little provisions they had with them and began to plan. Leveraging their slightly more advanced technological understanding and infrastructure, the newly landed inhabitants quickly laid out greenhouses in the slightly more temperate summer months allowing crops to grow and life to continue. From there, beautiful and wondrous as Dakuh Duzma was, the now self proclaimed Äävot Daasee began construction of homes and buildings outside the mountain and across the Ääpetmöy Vau River (again diplomats performed a "River" river) in a town they called RinoImiskee Pyyn. This town would quickly grow to become a major port city, climate not withstanding, within Moria and the town would expand exponentially to support many sea faring merchants. TiirtaÄävot Jat would continue its history without anything new of note happening, preferring to remain to itself and neutral in most global conflicts, retreating inwards in regards to global affairs.

Ääkädyisy Mes
Around 250 years into creation, Tiirta Äävot Jat founded a fort upon the island of Ääkädyisy Mes through which it would build two bridges to connect the continents of Whenua and Gaushun. This fort still stands to this day as Tiirta Äävot Jat sends continual repair convoys every few decades to maintain the bridges and fort.

Nabilzahir
The historic desert city of Nabilzahir, located on the south eastern coast of Whenua, is a surprisingly important city to the people of Tiirta Äävot Jat. Discovered by an explorer in the country's middle ages (roughly 150 years into existence), Nabilzahir is a city of ancient history, knowledge, and magic. Found abandoned at the time of discovery, the Eiäy of the exploration party decided to explore the city grounds. Within the city he found knowledge of magic and history of the continent as well as some very important knowledge of Dakuh Duzma. He took what books he could find and hold and brought them back to Tiirta Äävot Jat to be housed in the national library, central to all knowledge that the nation possesses. Another exploration party was not sent there until centuries later, whilst repairing the fort at Ääkädyisy Mes, the island upon which the intercontinental bridges between Whenua and Gaushun are centred. The new exploration and building convoy decided to send two ships towards Nabilzahir, since it was near the area, to see what had become of it, having forgotten its existence almost entirely in the time between that and the first contact. They were surprised to find not just a few, but many people living in a bustling and shining jewel of the desert. Relaying this information back to Vernesteen, he decided to make the trip there himself.

Upon reaching the shores of Nabilzahir, he met with the then mayor and founder, Megadalon, who had transformed the city and brought life to it. Vernesteen and Mega reached an agreement in which they would unite forces to try and create infrastructure and unity to the continent of Whenua. The project was begun with the creation of the New Anglian Federation (NAF) as agreed upon by Mega, who called the continent by that name. Although some infrastructure and planning was completed and done, the project was cut short when Fare-Sesso (Then Fare-unire) bought the city of Nabilzahir from Megadalon, effectively ending the New Anglian Federation. After the dissolution of the NAF, Vernesteen decided to return to Tiirta Äävot Jat to work on projects for which he had more direct control.

After being scammed out of a vast array of national funds by Jotunstan (then a part of Fare-unire), Tiirta Äävot Jat join the empty quiver war on the side of Arcadia, Lydonia, and the FCA against Fare-unire and its allies. Although the war ended before it could begin, the town of Nabilzahir was reacquired by Tiirta Äävot Jat as part of the war reparations paid.

Acquisition of Nereida
A few weeks after Nabilzahir was reacquired, a party was sent southerly to set up an outpost as well as connect Nabilzahir to the rest of the greater land of Tiirta Äävot Jat. This mission was shortly stopped in its tracks as the leader of the mission came across a town with a floating island. The explorers decided to enter the town from the northern side, the town seemingly having forgotten to construct a wall to the river. Within the town, they found the corpse of what they figured mustn't have been human as they dated it to having lived a life of well over 200 years. The rest of the inhabitants seemed equally confused as the expedition members did. Vernesteen decided to claim the land for further research, appointing a scholar, Furious, to the position of mayor of the newly founded town. In doing this, he hoped to learn of the secret to the floating island as well as the rather unusual race of being that was found in the town's catacombs.

Westwards expansion
Due to inactive and inattentive leadership, as well as a failing economy, the Morian Confederacy fell, with its northern region being bought by Vernesteen. Through this purchase, Tiirta Äävot Jat acquired the towns of Thymine (formerly Inuitis) as well as the abandoned Greenfrost and Cythamuir. Vernesteen hopes to bring prosperity to this region and breath new life into it.

General information
Although Tiirta Äävot Jat doesn't invest the most in military power, especially as much as other similarly sized countries, its power is still formidable. It's main military force is relatively weak, but is bolstered by the strength of the common people, the vast majority of whom are more than prepared and eager to defend their land.

The majority of the Tiirta Äävot Jat military is based around naval superiority. Bolstering the largest ship in the world as well as the largest naval power in the world, Tiirta Äävot Jat is a force to be reckoned with. In terms of personnel, the nation has a mandatory period of service between the ages of 15-20. During those years, men and women alike serve aboard military vessels along with getting any necessary ship training they may not already have. Due to the fact that Dakuh Duzma was formerly a Dwarven kingdom, it has the unique benefit of being able to forge top notch weapons of all sorts in mass. It is also the site upon which most ships parts are built. This surplus of military weaponry means that Iertee (rookies) have the choice of any weapon that they may want. Due to most of them coming from lineages of fishermen, most opt to use either a spear or spear adjacent weapon such as a pole-arm, pike, or halberd. That said, there are also plenty of people who train in combat axes, swords, daggers, and such. Another provision that Vernesteen enforces in the military, is that of armed civilian vessels. Any vessel larger than a medium sized schooner and is registered to the national flag must carry with it at least 2 medium sized cannons on its deck, with most ship owners opting to carry 4-6. With these provisions in place, Tiirta Äävot Jat has the necessary means to erect an army 3-4 times the official size at any time and have its soldiers well trained and armed.

For those people who choose instead to remain in the military, they are given the rank of Taaduopaa (one who trained) and are sent to Nabilzahir (Used to be sent to Ääkädyisy Mes before reconnection with Nabilzahir) to train for another two years. While at Nabilzahir, soldiers are given intense training on both martial arts, weapons combat, and magic use. Since most combat that the Tiirta Äävot Jat military encounters is either naval at a distance, or the siege or blockade of an area, nation, or town, soldiers are trained in basic magic such as water or fire magic to either be able to bombard enemies from afar, or to control the waves and tide so as to have greater control over their ship as well as the enemy's ship. After the two years, soldiers return to Dakuh Duzma and are assigned to a ship, however soldiers may instead choose to study the mystic arts more so that they may become a Isuuskuuhmai myttänäy (Ship's mage). For those who wish to take an officer's position, promotions are given out based upon performance, fealty to their commander but also criticism of their orders (it's a strict balance), and recommendations by a superior officer. All promotions are signed off by Admiral Vernesteen.

Internal affairs
TiirtaÄävot Jat started as and has remained what is functionally a monarchy since its foundation 500 odd years ago. Since its leader, Admiral C. Vernesteen, is immortal save for a lethal blow, it hasn't had the opportunity nor the necessity to change leaders. It also does not have any means or plans to do so. If Vernesteen were to die, chaos would most likely erupt within the city and surrounding area. Although the country is run though a dictatorial "what I say goes", Vernesteen routinely listens to other town mayors and military officers, even if he ignores them in the end. Each mayor has more or less autonomy over their respective city and surrounding save the few instances where the nation must go to war.

External affairs and international relations
Although only recently internationally active, after a period of isolation broken by the foundation of the NAF, Tiirta Äävot Jat is close allies with a few countries as well as being a member of the Alathran International Assembly (AIA). Tiirta Äävot Jat is allies with Stahlfaust, the Fossores Republic (a close ally directly to the south), Ashina, Invicta, Mirenirenic, and Lydoneia, having an embassy in both Egregan and Haven.

As of March 28th, 2022, Tiirta Äävot Jat and Lydoneia have agreed to a non-aggression pact as well as trade routes and mutual defence. Lydoneia would also have access to the minerals buried deep within the earth beneath Eth Thjar Zozr.

Language
The residents of TiirtaÄävot Jat speak Saljaajui, a language evolved from what they could decipher of the ancient Dwarven texts of Dakuh Duzma as well as the original language spoken by the first settlers of the land. The language also gained influence from merchants and traders who settled in the lands over the years allowing for a thriving mixing pot of languages that continues to evolve to this day.

Saljaajui follows a VSO structure (verb subject object) in which the verb of the sentence comes before the subject and the the object follows the subject. For example, "I eat an apple" in english would translate to "jie ke ariiny" in Saljaajui. A direct translation would be "eat I an apple". The language also follows a system of suffixes and prefixes for verbs and nouns depending on use in a sentence. Say for example you wanted a noun to act as an adjective, you would use the suffix äi or o. The suffix/prefix changes depending on whether the word contains a certain type of vowel sound. Each sound is separated into one of 3 categories: 1rst, 2nd, or neutral. Those in the first category would gain the suffix äi and those in the second would gain the suffix o. Neutral words also take the first categories suffix or prefix.

The language also consists of its own alphabet and writing system.

(For a full list of grammar and vocabulary, send me [CHVRedstone] a message on discord and I'll send you the pdfs)

Religion
There is no state determined nor commonly accepted religion within the region of TiirtaÄävot Jat but as a sea fairing society, many people choose to worship the moon in some way or another. Those who follow the Mufijo Faith may choose to pray to Jorb whereas others may partake in worship to Luna of the Silvan Faith. It is also not uncommon for people to pray to water gods such as the Water Cycle God of the Havenian Pantheon faith. Somewhat less common, some people choose to worship multiple gods from differing religions, believing that appeasing all of them might help them more than true faith and devotion to one. Whatever the case, it is customary for all captains and crew alike to toss a coin to the sea and say a short prayer towards the moon. Even if they do not practice any of the aforementioned religions regularly.

Daily life
Life for the Äävot Daasee is fairly normal. Their diet consists of mostly fish, grain, and root vegetables. They prefer spicy and hot foods to help cope with the colder climates. Many of them are fishermen or work on ships away from home for the majority of the year, only stopping by once in a while if their ship needs to make a stop at a port within the TiirtaÄävot Jat area. The rest of the population is divided fairly equally between miners, lumberjacks, and farmers, with anyone else being a housekeeper while their significant other is away.

Economy
The majority of the economy remains self contained and self sufficient, with very few exports or imports. The few exported goods TiirtaÄävot Jat provides are minerals (specifically quartz) from Dakuh Duzma's mines and locally farmed fish. It also provides one of the few sources of Shulkers and Elytras within Alathra, having salvaged them from the remains of the Dwarven civilization. It tends to import some more exotic foods such as greens and meats as well as artisanal goods such as glass and tile.

One other general service that the nation tends to export, is that of ship building. Due to it's plentiful access to large, old, forests as well as the ability to forge rivets and more complicated materials en masse, Tiirta Äävot Jat sells pre-built ships to many different nations and towns, some of which can be found at Briscoe Ranch.

Calendar
Since most residents tend to worship the moon in one way or another, Tiirta Äävot Jat Follows a lunar calendar, with each month changing with the phases of the moon. In the Ijat Daasee calendar, there are 13 months, each labelled for a different animal. Since all months contain the word saup (month), most native speakers omit it when speaking. The year is also divided into two seasons, Päämooikssy (melting) from Ääjoo saup to Inan saup during which the ice on the rivers begins to melt ever so slightly. During these months the days are slightly longer, nights shorter, and most importantly, tides higher. These months are the best time for fishing and normally produce an overabundance of fish, most of which is either sold or salted and stored for period during which fishing is particularly bad. The other season, Petsy (freezing), takes place from Äänoon saup to Nul Ääkoin saup and consists of the coldest weather most Alathrans will ever encounter. During this period, waters freeze over and blizzards are abundant. But for those who are willing to risk it all, there are plenty of good fish to be caught at sea, as well as whales, who pass by the Tiirta Äävot Jat coastline during their yearly migration during the early Petsy months. The four months that mark the changing seasons are important in their names, more so than others. Nul Ääkoin saup is so named because it is said that a snowy owl carries away the white snow and blizzards with it as it heads south towards Eldia for their cold season. After that, the rooster is said to beckon the sun into the Päämooikssy months with it's overpowering cry. The later two months are so named the horse and the buffalo because it is said that they must both push and pull the sun away from Tiirta Äävot Jat and pull the moon back into its place. Although one may not think it due to the weather, many residents prefer Petsy rather than Päämooikssy as they are more accustomed to the deathly cold weather.

Celebrations and Holidays
Due to the mixing pot of religions and cultures within Tiirta Äävot Jat, there is no agreement on any religious based holidays. Because of this, there are only a few nationally agreed upon holidays and celebrations that occur. The three that everybody celebrates are Ma döylttät (New year as per the lunar calendar) as well as the two periods of time during which the seasons change over. During these three large holidays, there are feasts aplenty, many of which feature a wide range of fish both in preparation and species. These celebrations are also one of the few times during the year where little to no boats can be found around the waters of Dakuh Duzma and the surrounding area.

National Anthem
The national anthem of Tiirta Äävot Jat can be heard in a purely instrumental, very minimal version above. There is no set orchestration and most renditions are done with a violin/fiddle and whatever can be used as a drum at the given moment. The roots of the anthem can be traced back a few hundred years to a sea shanty. This sea shanty became quite popular among sailors for its catchy tune and eventually became synonymous with the country as it seemed to follow its people everywhere they went. The lyrics to the anthem are as follows:

O, Tiirta tenipa si ny yyvot eidaat

Luul kua yisoopee,

hort päyräin jörnnöirstäi eisuuskuuhmai

Pöyks nyt einut tel aarurrauuo tuop

Imiskee pihtö hort idaat pihtö,

Ryrt re het han tee sibyyrt äämäy paart kee tuop

Tiirta ju aasaal pii yiköee

Hort vup äi hön poo tyrt ko paart

Doïs tövoo yöny myöl tonuosui

myöl tövoo paart yöpihtö

teu tuop

The english translation isn't exact but is roughly as follows:

O, the moon shines bright

On the ocean tonight

The waves crash hard

And the ship goes wild

But we’ll have a good catch

This twilight.

Land of the mountain

And land of the moon

We thank you for

Protecting us

In our greatest time of need

The shimmering gates shine

Upon the waters and

Show us a beacon

towards our home

We sail once again

To make this night

As prosperous as

This land has made us

Although the official version is quite short, when actually used the performers tend to add lyrics on the spot, opting to add what they feel like in the moment. This means that the average national anthem can range anywhere between half a minute to over 5 minutes in length.

The Magic of Nabilzahir and Tiirta Äävot Jat
Within the