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No major artefacts have been preserved from the Neolithic, but Southern Geran is likely to have been part of the territory inhabited by the people of the Ortûlékian horizon. Latest since the Chalcolithic, the Géni, thought the ancestors of the Aribelian and Celdic peoples, dwell in the upper Ilathw Valley and the Ílgarian Forest, were they will establish themselves permanently from the beginning of the 3rd millennium B.E.B., when the first expansion of the newly evolved Olgish-Soskish community has cost them most of their lands in Belkondíl. They are here to remain, settling in Geran for the coming two millennia. | No major artefacts have been preserved from the Neolithic, but Southern Geran is likely to have been part of the territory inhabited by the people of the Ortûlékian horizon. Latest since the Chalcolithic, the Géni, thought the ancestors of the Aribelian and Celdic peoples, dwell in the upper Ilathw Valley and the Ílgarian Forest, were they will establish themselves permanently from the beginning of the 3rd millennium B.E.B., when the first expansion of the newly evolved Olgish-Soskish community has cost them most of their lands in Belkondíl. They are here to remain, settling in Geran for the coming two millennia. | ||
At this time, the Geranian Heath has already been occupied for almost seven hundred years. The Geranians are among the first of the Reknayan peoples to venture west until the rim of the mountains and go further into the plains. When they descend form Lake Dermon in the 27th century B.E.B., they bring with them large herds of long-haired cattle, which will later be known as the Geranian Ox. It is not known if they knew of metalworking, but their appearance near the Ortûlékian sphere around the same time the first Bronze is forged by the Olgs makes it likely that they were introduced to it soon after their arrival in Geran, or even that they brought metallurgy with them from the east. | At this time, the Geranian Heath has already been occupied for almost seven hundred years. The Geranians are among the first of the Reknayan peoples to venture west until the rim of the mountains and go further into the plains, founding the holy city of Yamenna on the shores of Lake Tapakya. When they descend form Lake Dermon in the 27th century B.E.B., they bring with them large herds of long-haired cattle, which will later be known as the Geranian Ox. It is not known if they knew of metalworking, but their appearance near the Ortûlékian sphere around the same time the first Bronze is forged by the Olgs makes it likely that they were introduced to it soon after their arrival in Geran, or even that they brought metallurgy with them from the east. | ||
===The Foundations of the Aribelian People and the Celdic Problem=== | ===The Foundations of the Aribelian People and the Celdic Problem=== | ||
The first undoubtably Aribelian artefacts found in the upper Ilathw date from well into the Bronze Age. As both Olgish and Aribelian historical tradition holds, the Géni, the early Aribelians, settle in the fertile plains north of Belkondíl, or Almen as it is known in Aribelian myth. In Olgish writing, this country is always identified with Geran; Aribelian legends call it ''Felnermi'', the ‘Meadow of Plenty’. Indeed, the fertile Ilathw plains prove the perfect cradle of a young nation, spreading over a large area from the Black Mountains west across the Ílgarian Forest almost to the site of the later Bernab. They live in hamlets, forts, and cities, revere a pantheon of gods, and construct megalithic temples, tombs, and holy sites, many of which still remain in the area. | The first undoubtably Aribelian artefacts found in the upper Ilathw date from well into the Bronze Age. As both Olgish and Aribelian historical tradition holds, the Géni, the early Aribelians, settle in the fertile plains north of Belkondíl, or Almen as it is known in Aribelian myth. In Olgish writing, this country is always identified with Geran; Aribelian legends call it ''Felnermi'', the ‘Meadow of Plenty’. Indeed, the fertile Ilathw plains prove the perfect cradle of a young nation, spreading over a large area from the Black Mountains west across the Ílgarian Forest almost to the site of the later Bernab. They live in hamlets, forts, and cities, revere a pantheon of gods, and construct megalithic temples, tombs, and holy sites, many of which still remain in the area. | ||
The historical relationship between the early Aribelians, and by extension the ''Géni'', and the Celdic peoples remains a problematic one. The conservative viewpoint holds that both Aribelians and Celsondach descend from a common ancestor, the Géni, and have remained a homogenous population until their ultimate separation in the 12th century B.E.B. In this scenario, the archaic from of Aribelian spoken in the Ilathw Valley is ancestor to both the classical Aribelian dialects and the Celdic languages, which are often grouped under the label of an Aribelian language family. Especially in consideration of the inconsistent divergences between Celdic and Aribelian, the latter of which is semantically closer to Celdic but phonologically more similar to Olgish, an alternative stance might be proposed, treating the ancestral Ortûlékian population as a continuous horizon, with the Aribelians occupying the Ilathw Valley and the Proto-Celdic people the Geranian Heath. There languages, likewise, form a continuum, with Archaic Aribelian placed between Proto-Olgish and Old Celdic. In this scenario, the Celsondach might have formed a continuous culture with the Geranians, adopting an equestrian lifestyle already in Geran, which is then exported to the Celdic Steppes, which would further raise the question of whether the Celdic Horse is a distinct and separately tamed variety or a direct descendant of the Geranian Horse. With a lack of evidence, the issue remains unresolved. | The historical relationship between the early Aribelians, and by extension the ''Géni'', and the Celdic peoples remains a problematic one. The conservative viewpoint holds that both Aribelians and Celsondach descend from a common ancestor, the Géni, and have remained a homogenous population until their ultimate separation in the 12th century B.E.B. In this scenario, the archaic from of Aribelian spoken in the Ilathw Valley is ancestor to both the classical Aribelian dialects and the Celdic languages, which are often grouped under the label of an Aribelian language family. Especially in consideration of the inconsistent divergences between Celdic and Aribelian, the latter of which is semantically closer to Celdic but phonologically more similar to Olgish, an alternative stance might be proposed, treating the ancestral Ortûlékian population as a continuous horizon, with the Aribelians occupying the Ilathw Valley and the Proto-Celdic people the Geranian Heath. There languages, likewise, form a continuum, with Archaic Aribelian placed between Proto-Olgish and Old Celdic. In this scenario, the Celsondach might have formed a continuous culture with the Geranians, adopting an equestrian lifestyle already in Geran, which is then exported to the Celdic Steppes, which would further raise the question of whether the Celdic Horse is a distinct and separately tamed variety or a direct descendant of the Geranian Horse. With a lack of evidence, the issue remains unresolved. | ||
===The Arrival of the | ===The Arrival of the Kattasians=== | ||
Whichever the demography of eastern Geran, it is subjected to a major shift around 1600 B.E.B., when a second group of people descend from the mountains into the plains of Geran. The | Whichever the demography of eastern Geran, it is subjected to a major shift around 1600 B.E.B., when a second group of people descend from the mountains into the plains of Geran. The Kattasians have migrated westward from their territories south of the Desert of Wat. They speak a Besokian language and are unfamiliar with cattle herding and horse riding, but skilled metalworkers and agriculturalists, and their arrival in Geran will prove consequential for both of its older population groups. | ||
The Geranians are affected more directly. Their early contact with the Kattasians is hostile, involving their displacement from the plains and forced migration into the Nukna Highlands and to the coast that will once become the Hajalad. Yamenna is taken and becomes a Kattasian stronghold. With this change in location comes a change in lifestyle, away from their previous steppe herding in the open land and towards the small mountain farms they will be known for in the following centuries. Their herds shrink, for some, goats replace cattle, other are drawn down to the sea and begin a life as fisherman and merchants: They are the ancestors of Kalparians and Norians. For the Aribelians, the change is more subtle, but nonetheless of great consequences. It is here and now, under the influence of the curious Kattasians, that they discover the merits of science and written knowledge and, surpassing even their role models, discard their pantheon and favour of reason. The first step towards the great academies of Aribel, but also religious suppression and nationalist disdain that will come to dominate the Aribelian reputation many centuries later, is done. | |||
===The Wars of the Steppes=== | |||
In the early 13th century B.E.B., around the same time as the Nathári invasions upset southern Belkondíl, the ever-pushing Olgs embark on their next campaign of conquest. Under Dárin Ironaxe, they first occupy the southern Hajalad, where Darinsford and Cas Dárin still bear the conquerer’s name, and then attack the Aribelians, quickly gaining a foothold along the upper Ilathw. They will once be called the Wertians, the northernmost of the Olgish peoples. | |||
With their homeland taken, the Aribelians have no choice but to flee north into the sphere of influence of the Yamenaens, as the Kattasians of Geran are now known. Negotiations quickly erupt in violence and develop into the First War of the Steppes. The Aribelian minority seems lost beyond hope, but the Yamenaens are scattered, both geographically and politically, across the plain and the Aribelians desperate and united in their need for land. It is a short and bloody conflict that will end with the subduction of the Yamenaens and the foundation of the first unified Aribelian state, the Kingdom of Aeros. The Yamenaens are left with only a small strip of land reaching from Yamenna to the sea. This early Kingdom of Yamenna will fall less than a century later, in the Second War of the Steppes, which sees Aeros expand its territory and assert its dominance over the region against the land-hungry Wertians. | |||
But the nobility of Aeros is already divided over the question of Yamenaen religion, many calling for the destruction of the great Temple of Yamenna and the expulsion of the Kattasian clergy, others cautioning not to upset the Yamenaen populace. Only a few years later, Krošcan, high priestess of Yamenna, only narrowly survives an attempt on her life. Fleeing the city, she seeks refuge in the Nukna and rallies around her all loyal Kattasian chiefs, plotting an uprising against the Aribelians. The Third War of the Steppes is as devastating to the Aribelians as the first was to the Yamenaens, seeing the fall of the city of Aeros within three years. The Aribelians flee north into the land then known as Oshale, which will soon become their permanent home, leaving the history of Geran, others remain and receive mercy at the hands of the Yamenaens. Victorious and now united, they retake their holy city and restore the Kingdom of Yamenna, now spanning all of the Geranian Heath. | |||
which were part of the separate [[Province VII Oshale]] until the [[First Kalparian Uprising]] of 614 | which were part of the separate [[Province VII Oshale]] until the [[First Kalparian Uprising]] of 614 | ||