Garienen

Garienen is a region on the south-eastern coast of Senai, bordering in the west to Orolia and the Os'Orol Mountains, to Ulentia in the south and to the Molayan lands in the north.

Prehistory
The origins of the Garienish and the Molei people in general is still pretty much unknown. In their own legends the Molei tell that they have lived on the south-easter coast since the sun rose for the first time roughly six thousand years ago. Many see a connection between the first Molei and the ancient Em El, the probably oldest human civilisation. Many suppose that the Molei are the descendents of former slaves of Em El and that the original inhabitants of Em El were irradicated during a massive slave uprising. Garienish Priests claim that the people of Garienen are direct descendents of Em El and therefore the oldest race of mankind, this claim however cannot be true.

The Rise of Great Garienen
The exact date of the origin of Garienen is hard to pinpoint. We do know that since millenia the valley of the Garajal River has been a densely populated area, which brought fourth many smaller city states along its shores. If the legends of the Garienish are to be believed the city was founded in 822 BM and the year 6800 of the old Moleian Calendar. The founder of the city was the legendary hero Aurhö, who made a pact with the three Gods Gorka, Siski and Gröuwul, which made Garienen an exception in that it had three and not just one patron god. The first reliable source of Garienen is a treaty from the year 553 BM, between Garienen and the city state of Ebenchatis. The treaty was signed after Garienish forces defeated and conquered Ebenchatis. The King of Ebenchatis then negotiated with the Garienish and came the to treaty that he could keep his position and stay King of Ebenchatis under the condition that he ceded half of his territory and pledged military aid for Garienen.

The rise of Garienen came in full swing during the fifth century so that Great Garienen reached its greatest territorial extent around the year 400 BM. At that time the territory of Great Garienen reached down to Sleta in the south and to Eshenta in the north. The Clerics of Garienen date the year of its zenith as 394 BM.

One very important cultural exchange between the Garienish and the Masselanians happened in this time. Massela was up untill then very isolated from the rest of the world. The Garienish tried several times to conquer Massela, but failed everytime. After a while they established peaceful conctact with each other and became allies. One of the most important Masselanian inventions inspired by the Garienish was the Masselanian Writing System and the structure of the masselanian military.

The Fall of Great Garienen
The beginning of the end of Great Garienen was the year 385 BM when Mentasillis rebelled against the Garienish. Soon thereafter in 362 BM rose Maristic Believers in Arin and proclaimed the Theocracy of Arin and destroyed the Idols to the garienish Gods. Arin and Mentasillis allied in 329 BM with each other and founded the Dominion of Mentasillis and went to war against Garienen.

This war was known as the Hundred and Twenty years War. Of course it was wasn't a hundred and twenty years of continuous war, but a series of minors wars and conflicts that lasted hundred and twenty years.

Inspired by the uprising of the Molay the Ulentians also rebelled against the Garienish.

In 185 BM the so called Last War of Great Garienen broke out. The Ulentian rebells marched from the south against Garienen, while the Arinians came from the north-west and the Mentasillians sent their fleet up the Garajal River. The Masselanians who were allied with Garienen at the time also sent troops to aid the Garienish.

At the end of the Last War Garienen lay in ruins and was annexed by the Dominion of Mentasillis. This Union however didn't last very long either and soon the differences between Arin, Eshenta and Mentasillis broke the Dominion apart in 46 BM.

The Garienish Split
The period after Great Garienen untill the fifteenth century is called the Garienish Split or often also the Moleian Split. After Garienen fell and also the Dominion broke apart the southern Moleian regions became evermore decentralised and broke in ever smaller states. This affected not only Garienia, but also Ulentia and Orolia. While the Ulentian rebells managed to built their own states after Great Garienen fell and even united these states into the Kingdom of Ulentia, they eventually broke down again since the ninth century.

By the end of the fifteenth century the Moleian split had reached its highest extent with over 26 petty states warring and plotting between each other. Many states tried to even transform their population into soldiers and importated thousands of Chileseyan slaves to do manual labor and keep aggricultural production going. This lead to the accumulation of slaves and that in many coastal regions the slave population even outnumbered the Moleians. At this time there were three prominent strategies among the South-Moleian States. Those who imported slaves and used their own population almost solely for military. Those who tried to reestablish the realms of old, promiment among those are Garienen Eyrl and the Kingdom of Ulent. Last those who began to ally themself with the Molei Union.

Garienen Eyrl
Garienen Eyrl or Neo-Garienen was a state during the Moleian Split lasting from 1021 untill its annexation by the Molei Union in 1631. Garienen Eyrl saw itself as the only rightful heir to Great Garienen (which isn't special in itself as many post-Great Garienen states claimed this title). What made Garienen Eyrl special was first the long time it existed in contrast to many other states during The Split and its successful revival of the old garienish cult, called Garienish Neopaganism.

The Cruel Gods of Garienen
The South-Molei of old worshipped a pantheon of mythical animal deities. In most cases a city state had one patron deity, Garienen was an exception in that it had three. These Gods are often called the Cruel Gods of Garienen, this title of course was given to them by the Marists who saw in the cult blind idol worship. Still the Gods of Garienen could be legitimately called cruel as especially the God Gröuwul needed regular human sacrifices to ensure the victories of Garienen.

The three Gods of Great Garienen are:

Siski the Harpy: Siski is the Goddess of Wisdom and Fair Judgment, but also the flayer of traitors. The priests to Siski were the judges and executioners of Great Garienen

Gorka the Great Bull: Gorka was a creature half a great bull and half a whale. He was the personification of the Garajal River and the God of Fertility and Strength. The priests to Gorka bred a special breed of cattle in their temples. They raised a great Bull over the year and at a festival on the last day of summer the priests sacrificed the animal. The priests drunk the blood of the animal, the men of the royal descent ate its muscles and the women ate the organs.

Gröuwul the Hound-Headed Snake: The Gröuwul is perhaps the most infamous of the Cruel Gods. He is a trickster God and often called the Lord of deceit. The Gröuwul demands regular sacrifices from his followers in exchange for his secrets and forbidden knowledge.

Marism
Marism is a monotheistic religion originating in the Arinian Highlands. The religion spread in Garienia since the fall of Great Garienen. With the Fall the Cruel Gods also lost their power and most people converted to Marism in just a few decades. Albeit its sudden expansion, many parts of the old religion still remained alive in the region. The great and mighty gods were defeated but smaller deities and mythical animals were still reverred and the Festival of the Bull remained an important event on the festive calender of the Garienish.

Garienish Neopaganism
Garienish Neopaganism was created in the state of New-Garienen or Garienen Eyrl. To further their claim as the true heirs of Great Garienen the Kings of Garienen Eyrl revived many of the old rituals. The rites involving human sacrifice remained outlawed and the although the Harpy and the Bull were revived the Gröuwul had to remain buried. Still many beliefs that the Gröuwul also gained new worshippers in form of secrets cults and guilds of assassins. Although the old faith was revived as a state cult the influence of Marism was undeniable. One striking difference between the old faith and the Neopaganism was the existence of an antagonism between the Gods and a dualistic worldview. In the old faith the Gods were forces of nature, neither good nor evil. All Gods were able to do good and to do evil, but in the Neopaganist faith Siski and Gorka were purely benevolent deities, while the Gröuwul became the Antagonist, the deciever of mankind.

Language
The Garienish language is part of the Molei Language family and makes up the South-Molei languages together with Orolian and Ulentian. Like most Molei languages, Garienish is also an Ergative-Absolutive language.

The Garienish Writing System
The legends say Writing was given to mankind by the Harpy Siski and the Gröuwul. Siski tasked Aurhö with making his words unforgettable. He then went to the Gröuwul and gave him a sacrifice, so the Gröuwul told him of the Written Word. Aurhö went to Siski and showed her his writing and she was astonished by his skill, but as she looked closer she saw the blood on his hands and knew that he went to the Gröuwul. She was disappointed of him and angered by what she tought of as cheating. So she cursed the peoples of mankind to have different tongues, so Aurhö's words will be unfortgettable, but won't be understood by anyone anymore.