Sycdania

Sycdania (Syc: Siic' Dniaa) was a collection of early iron-age city-states that occupied the western coastline of the Sunset Peninsula during and after the Borizu Period. It was mostly known for her share in the Mediterranean trade after the decline of Borizu, and for introducing the draft horse in the Middle East. Heirs from northern migrant peoples, the Sycdanians did not closely resemble their neighbouring peoples. Their light skin and hair combined with their sturdy build made them an easily recognised sight in foreign harbours all over the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Their language, known as Syc (Syc: Siic) was also an oddity, forming the base for the Sycdanian cultural identity throughout the loose confederacy that formed their nation.

Migratory Period
The Sycdanians, who were only introduced to written language after their settlement of the Sunset Peninsula, did not keep records of their passing through the Caucasus mountains. What little evidence we have comes from oral history, stories told by generation upon generation until written down in about 400 B.F.B. These stories include the epic of Kon, who led his people across the treacherous mountain passes with the help of his ancestors. From what we can tell, these stories are about as much fact as they are fiction, and clear evidence cannot be constructed from them.

What we do know is that the proto-Sycdanians crossed the Caucasus in about 450 B.F.B., fleeing from hostile people and hunger, both products of the sweeping climate change that made the planet drier. Winters got harsher, and many animals useful to early human settlements died or migrated elsewhere. This lead to a migration of people down south, towards warmer climates where animals were still abundant and agriculture was still possible. The proto-Sycdanians followed the river Wolga south, until they reached the Caspian sea. They continued south, and after crossing the Caucasus, followed the setting sun across the northern Sunset Peninsula. They crossed through Borizu territory in 425 B.F,B,, but the fringes of the empire were left unguarded and the proto-Sycdanians were allowed to pass. In 410 B.F.B., the proto-Sycdanians reached the Night Sea.

Early Settlement
The city of Sec is generally accepted as theplace of the first permanent proto-Sycdanian settlement on the Sunset Peninsula. Though nothing of the original settlement remains to this day, the description given in stories and tales generally point in the location of Sec. The mountainous ranges and the bay of Sec resemble in detail the description given in the Tale of Syc, the ancient song that holds the history of proto-Sycdanians from the first settlement. These early settlers lived off subsistence farming, herding sheep, and by transporting goods across the coast with their peculiar draft horses, animals that were of a sturdier build than their southern counterparts. This early trade contact brought the proto-Sycdanians into dialogue with Borizu settlers, who learned them the ways of the written word. From that point on, we stop referring to them as proto-Sycdanians and start referring to them as Sycdanians.

Early Sycdanian settlements began popping up all along the coast during the following hundred years. While Sec grew in size, other areas were colonised and settled. The cities of Dak, Lomar, Nu'ur and Tevvw Mon find their origins in this period of colonisation. As the population grew, so did the need for transportation. Draft horses were now not sufficient to transport goods along the coast. Harbours were constructed to allow ships to dock, connecting all existing cities with a new network of transportation. These ships would first sail only between cities and across the Night Sea, but when the maritime might of Borizu began to decline, Sycdanian sea-going vessels filled the void Borizu left behind.

Settlement power
During this period, known in Sycdania as the 'Glorious Era', the families in Sycdanian cities began to amass wealth from their trade ventures. Even the families that did not directly participate in trade saw their income rise, as local economies experienced sudden influxes of wealth and highly desirable goods. Wool and draft horses became export commodities, and those families that owned large swaths of land began to see the value of that land double over a small period of time. We recognise this in large building projects and the copying of Borizu architecture. Many of the administrations we find today date back to this era, about 200 B.F.B., as rich families started to place importance not only with the faint idea of their lineage, but also with the exact composition. These people usually are the first entries of the longest family trees, and many families try to claim descendants from these early adopters of administration. Here, we can see Sycdanian culture truly being forged.

As the power and wealth of the families grew, however, the power of the princes failed. From their inception, Sycdanian cities had been led by a network of princes with interconnected family trees, claiming their lineage back to Kon and his descendants. They, as the heirs to the first founders of Sec, had always relied on the supposed superiority of their blood line. After all, their ancestors had led their people to that fertile place on the Sunset Peninsula. But as the memory of their hardship waned, so too did the respect for the princes. By now, the line of Kon was nothing but a worn-out group of inbred degenerates, a result of two hundred years of inbreeding to keep the line pure. The princes were weak, the families were strong. In 190 B.F.B., this culminated in the Retaking, where various rich families took control over their cities. This period gave rise to the idea that one could lose the favour of one's ancestors, and that piety and worth were ever-changing values. From this concept stemmed the first ideas of the division of power.

After the Retaking, the Sycdanians blossomed. Cities were now led by a somewhat democratic system, where ancestral favour played a vital part. This had multiple effects, one of which was the repeal of many edicts posted by the princes before their demise. Princely power had always circulated around royal monopolies and royal debt. All debts to the throne were destroyed (literally, by smashing the clay tablets recording those debts) and the edicts received the same treatments. The markets surrounding various birds, exotic goods, infrastructure and waterways were suddenly opened, and the families made good use of that fact. Developments in irrigation made agriculture more suitable, and the improvement of roads between cities made the Sycdanian community stronger and more interwoven.

Unification
Now, this economical change had another effect: the closer-tied community began to see itself as something more than just people who spoke the same language. The cultural identity that already united many Sycdanians became stronger. We see the first real priesthoods being established during this time. Not only in Sycdanian cities, but also in the last remaining Borizu colonies that remained after their withdrawal from the Sunset Peninsula. Since the crumbling of the kingdom, the percentage of Sycdanian inhabitants in these cities (most of them on the southern half of the peninsula) had risen sharply, a result of trading, population growth and immigration. Some settlements had 30% Sycdanian populations, while others had percentages as high as 75%, turning the locals into minorities. In some cases, the Sycdanians actually set up rivalling city governments. This, in turn, led to much violence, where the existing powers tried to crack down on Sycdanian populations.

Had this happened only fifty years before, it's hard to imagine that the other cities would've been called to action. However, the increased cultural identity, which flowed further than language alone, became a ground for a response. Certain families, inside Sycdanian cities and outside, saw this as an opportunity to expand their influence. To the most ideological of citizens, it was a chance to rescue their brothers from oppression. Whatever the case, for the first time in their history the Sycdanians fielded a large army to extend their power base. The actual actions of the army are of little note. The cities were easily captured, mostly because the actions were supported by large amounts of the populations inside them. We need to see, however, that these invasions were not at all peaceful. Many of the original inhabitants of the cities were slaughtered. The cultural identity had also forged a strong sense of worth among the Sycdanians, and they showed this by burning Borizu temples, killing other ethnics and destroying records and libraries.