THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION
Warring Tribes
-2205
    Northwestern Longerath was first mentioned by Lambuça merchants from the Burburreica kingdom in what is now southern Estontetso in the 28th century (bp) in an inventory list of hides; it is clear that there must have been some contact before then, but written records are hard to come by from that age.  The people who inhabit what is now Neoliliana and its environs were of scattered descent, many tribes of large family-based clans who fought amongst themselves and even within their own tribe.  Sporadic bloodshed by unwritten, unarmoured warriors remained the norm for many centuries after this first contact.  The nine tribes became the focal point of Neoliliani culture today, and the basis of the kingdoms that arose in Neoliliana.

THE NINE TRIBES
    The Auranni lived on the western coast.  They discovered fishing early on, and foraged in the forests and valleys nearby; as a result, they valued their land, and were fiercely territorial, though they migrated with the seasons.  The Auranni were a warlike people who made great use of the forest, both as a hiding place when rival tribes ventured near, and to form the ingredients for the poison they used on their spears and arrows.  They remained isolationist for centuries, and were slow to develop any kind of civilization.  When they did, however, arriving late on the scene, they made a splash; the Auranni tribal lands were rich in iron, and armed with their new weapons, the Auranni cut through their neighbours like chaff on wheat, founding the kingdom of AURIA.
    The Daseme lived on the rocky northwestern coast of Neoliliana, ekeing out a meagre living by scavenging shellfish and hunting deer and caribou, the latter being wiped out of existence in Neoliliana a few centuries later by the expanding Daseme and Relloi tribesfolk.  For the most part, the Daseme were peaceful folk who wanted to be left alone; their harsh conditions kept their numbers low and made them irritable.  They collected sharp rocks that are still plentiful along the coast, and fashioned tools and weapons out of them.  Eventually, they found obsidian, and later, copper deposits on the surface, from which they made the first armour known in Neoliliana, a kind of beaten copper skullcap.  Their favourite weapons were the war mace and the short knife, but they used spears in hunting.  Reclusive and disadvantaged, the Daseme lived as wild men in the north for many years, and lived on as a legend longer than that after forming the kingdom of DASEMIA
    The Eshi lived along the hot southern coast, where they quickly came into contact with the more advanced Liliani, who traded with them and spread religion and writing.  Despite centuries of this mingling, the Eshi never seemed to lose their barbaric nature, and continually raided eastwards, bringing back treasures of copper, bronze, and gold.  In turn, this made them prime targets of their neighbours, notably the Qellan and the Kageri.  Short folk like most of the tribes in Neoliliana, they were renowned for being hairy and stout men, and golden-haired women who were greatly prized as spoils of war.  The commonness of blonde hair among the whole Neoliliani population now, as compared to the dark-haired Gorami,  is due primarily to those raids.  The Eshi were sometimes called the Golden Ones, both for their hair, and for the many treasures they claimed in battle.  They founded the short-lived kingdom of ESTONTALLE.
    The Gorami gained a fierce reputation as 'mountain men' by the Bezuntas of the Peganhosa kingdom (in what is now northern Estontetso).  They guarded their territory in the Liliani mountain range with axes and arrows.  Their height comparative to the other tribes kept them safe from the west; the tight passes into the mountains staved off the Bezuntas.  They rejected trader and missionary alike for centuries, retreating into their mountain valleys when armies called to enforce the edicts of kings.  They were tall and dark-haired, with pale skin, and from their land came the legend of the Nosferatu (Estontetso) as well as Fomori (Neoliliana).  Eventually they called their land GORAMIA, called GREGURDICA by the Liliani, and raised up a king to speak for them, but their way of life changed little over the centuries.
    The Kageri were renowned as horsemen, not tall as the Gorami nor stout as the Eshi, but fierce and dark, with flashing eyes and bloody swords.  Among the Neoliliani, they are credited with inventing the stirrup, but it is more likely to have been brought into the Kageri lands by an Estontetsan merchant.  Regardless, they went wild across the land in but a single generation; the Kageri launched invasions into Micholerdia and Gregurdicia, and deep into the lands occupied by the Eshi, Makud and Tazothi.  They did invade Goramia, but found the people there too hard to kill and the land too barren to be worth fighting for.  Although they enriched themselves to no end and managed to create a legend that would succeed them for a thousand years, the Kageri were nearly brought low by their conquests; almost an entire generation of Kageri menfolk were killed over the years they ravaged the land.  Finally, their leader, Onolin Darkeyes, led them into the Makud lands, and rather than razing it, conquered it, settling down in their lands with his men to raise families, and creating the first kingdom, KAGERE.  The Kageri were known for the love that great warriors had for each other, a rather rare display of homosexuality among the ancients.
    The Makud were the first sedientary peoples in Neoliliana, settling down in south-central Neoliliana where they harvested wild oats, rye and maize, and traded with their neighbours for root vegetables and fruit, which they used to survive the harsh plains winters and to ferment a kind of mash which they mixed with milk and drank, called Ilqiis.  Later on, they began to plant the crops themselves, and discovered how to brew beer, creating a stout kind of ale that is still drunk today.  The Makud were poised in the centre of what is now Neoliliana, and they used their position to trade ably with their neighbours, copying the merchants from the newly emerging kingdoms of Burburreica, Micholerdia, and Gregurdica to the east.  In the end, this would be their downfall, when the Kageri horsemen followed their traders back to their lands and sacked them.
    The Qellan lived in the far south, living for the most part in relative luxury, with fruit and wild game plenty.  When the game began to become sparse, the Quellan turned to fishing, but were never as able as their northern cousins.  The Qellan were known as quiet folk, who nonetheless became the first people in Neoliliana to read and write their own language rather than the trading tongue of the Lambuça merchants.  Soon after the founding of Kagere, the Qellan founded QELLA, a tiny kingdom and trading port in the southlands, where they remained staunchly independent for centuries, and later, a centre of learning in the land.
    The Relloi were the Northmen, thin and pale, almost elfin, of whom many a story is told in childrens books and fables.  They followed the Caribou herds in the north, migrating where they did, and as a consequence never quite developed the same level of civilization - or warfare - as the rest of the tribes.  They were said to be peaceful, quiet and slow, patient enough to hunt the great creatures and efficient enough to live off them all winter.  As the tribes hunted the caribou to extinction in Neoliliana, the Relloi moved north, following the herds into what is now Maryport, where they settled in Ennes (southern Maryport).
    The Tazothi were the Horse Lords, said to be tall, noble, and graceful, wielding spears from the saddle and fighting with both men and women wielding weapons in times of war.  The whole community was mounted, probably lending weight to their supposed height, and they were best known for their speed, able to travel over forty kilometers in a single day as a group!  They lived in the center-north area of modern Neoliliana, mostly hunting and gathering.  Although often considered enlightened, the Tazothi never formed their own kingdom, and resisted the incursions of others with bloody spears and wild cries.  The unulating war cry of the Tazothi is remarkably similar to the modern shouts of gangs in the bad parts of Avenira.

THE COVENANT
ONOLIN DARKEYES (2232-2199) is revered by the Neoliliani as the first king of Neoliliana, although the very concept of Neoliliana is a quite modern one.  Onolin united his people, the KAGERI, under his rule, and established the hereditary line of sucession to prevent the bloody feuds common after the death of a thane.  During the three decades of his rule, Onolin was responsible for taking his nomadic horsewarriors out of the mountains and into the lush valleys of the coast and taking those lands from the natives who lived there, mingling his blood with theirs ritually through marriage.  It was this marriage that is called the COVENANT.  By his deeds, this strong warrior society became landed and agrarian, able to build and expand as a true kingdom, KAGERE; the area is still considered holy ground today by the normally republican Neoliliani.  As the cultures of the two peoples became intermeshed, both prospered, and became one.  Though the lands of Neoliliana would not be united for centuries, the seeds Onolin planted remain with the Neoliliani even today, as the Dream: one land, one nation, one blood. 


c. 30000 BP  First recorded cave paintings found in the Chantilles; tribes living along the coast believed to have been present for at least 20,000 years earlier.
2570 BP    In Dascunya, the Gardlies tribe begin a war to expand their territory. They first conquer the Lumattans tribe, and then the Klerencies.
c. 2700 BP    First mention of Neoliliana by Lambuça merchants travelling in Eshi lands.
c. 2600 BP    The Relloi are forced to migrate north as the caribou herds thin out.  They settle in what is now Ennes.
2310 BP    In Dascunya, the Gardlies ally with the Leameans to conquer the Odemoss.
2232 BP        Onolin Darkeyes becomes chieftain of the Len Kageri.
2230 BP        Onolin Darkeyes conquers the Jen Kageri.
2229 BP        Onolin Darkeyes marries Herai the Fair and becomes chieftain of the Nort Kageri.
2227 BP        The High Moot; Onolin Darkeyes becomes the first Kazin (high chief) of the Kageri.
2226-2205 BP        The Kageri invade their neighbours, starting with the eastern kingdoms and ending up in the western tribeslands.
2205 BP        Kagere is founded (the Covenant).



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