History of Luger

History

Pre-Lugerian Era (900-1700)

The Pre-Lugerian Era ranged from ~900-~1700 and mostly encompasses Jolaneki and Catamount histories. It begins with the creation of the Tribal Kingdom of Jolanek (~900-1760). Jolaneki herds used to be nomadic, always on the move and never in one place. However, around 910, a Jolaneki herd under the Regalia of Thurmon I, stopped its movement near the Crozark River and Crozark Bay. Thurmon I, a young Regali, created a settlement in this area. This settlement grew exponentially as the lack of movement allowed families to grow larger without splitting up. The settlement, the Herd of Crozark, grew around 20,000 in 930. Although this herd was not on the move, others were, and Thurmon sent out to stop the nomadic movement of other herds. Soon, herd movement came to a halt and more Herds popped up. Around 940, there were four main Herds: Crozark, Brearctronia, Farl, and Maruk. In 942, the four Herds joined hands and began working with one another to ensure survival and to avoid starvation in the winter months (which saw the least amount of vegetation). In 945, Thurmon created the Tribal Kingdom of Jolanek, with him as the King and a council of 28 as the Herd Regali and their six Regali-Consal. Between 945-960, the Tribal Kingdom of Jolanek expanded its territory up to the Eastern border of the Tallmane River.

The Tribal Kingdom of Jolanek had a very quiet history. However, the Jolaneki and Catamounts, being natural enemies, bordered each other along the Tallmane River. The Jolaneki were able to hold their ground, but around 1330, a Catamount growth spurt saw territories grow into Jolaneki lands. This caused multiple spars around the Tallmane River and between 1330-1339, the Tallmane Aggressions occurred, where the Jolaneki combated Catamount territories. In 1339, Jolanek was able to push the Catamounts back across the Tallmane River. In 1340, King Harman V, built Harman’s Wall along the Tallmane River and down to the sea, which created a barrier in which the Catamounts could not expand westward. Jolanek became isolationist in this time and its isolationism lasted for the duration of the Tribal Kingdom’s existence until Lugerian intervention.

The Catamounts, due to being reclusive people, have very little recorded history, though it is generally accepted that around 800, the Catamounts began expanding around the Lytronian Plain. Between 800-1200, Catamount history is not documented, though it is known that around this time the Catamount gavelkind system began. Catamount history was recorded almost entirely recorded in maps, the earliest map being from 1011 which recorded territories of the Catamount people, named domains. The Catamounts never formed a sovereign nation, but were a collection of domains that were generally nonviolent towards one another, due to the fact that male territories rarely overlapped. However, many female territories (named tenetaries), overlapped within domains and outside of domains, which caused tenetary conflicts. In 1330, Catamount population saw a growth that caused many Catamounts begin moving west into Jolaneki territory. Between 1330-1339, the Tallmane Aggression occurred as new Catamount houses attempted to establish domains in Jolanek, mostly along the Tallmane River. In this time, Jolaneki armies cracked down on the domains and in multiple instances pushed them back across the Tallmane River, however the Catamounts on multiple accounts pushed back into Jolanek. In 1340, King Harman V of Jolanek marched armies into the Maie, Mosse, and Courbis Domains, the westernmost domains of the Catamount people, and held a firm grip on them, sustaining attacks from within and from the bordering domains. Between 1340 and 1360, a great stone wall named Harman’s Wall was built along the western side of the Tallmane River. On 1360, the final section was built, pushing into Loyan Lake.

In 1612, the Tribal Kingdom of Jolanek expanded its territory past the Westland Forest, pushing into the Loyan Taiga, its land reaching up to Tenant Lake. The Catamounts established four new domains in the Taiga and in 1613, a war erupted between the four domains and the Jolanek. Between 1613-1615, the Loyan Peninsula War raged. In 1615, the Battle of Tenant Lake caused the Jolaneki to retreat back into the Westland Forest and the Catamount took over the Loyan Peninsula. The Catamount domains and the Jolaneki signed a treaty which marked the Harman Wall and the top and bottom of Thurmon Lake as the border of the Tribal Kingdom of Jolanek and Catamount territory. This border remains today.

Pre-Republic Era (1649-1684)

The Pre-Republic Era (1649-1684) spans from the first Lugerian settlement, Union, being founded, to the founding of the First Republic of Luger in 1684. The Pre-Republic Era saw little activity from Jolanek and the Catamount and mostly encompasses the Lugerians. Around May of 1649, the first Lugerian settlers landed in Union Channel inside Union Bay, founding the settlement of Union. This settlement had around twenty families in May of 1649. The next year, in February of 1650, the settlement was around one hundred and forty families. In March, the first Mayor of Union, Rhys Grant, sent explorers around the Union River Basin to map out the area and explore. Grant himself was an explorer and by 1651 mapped out the southern Union River Basin and laid claim to the land. Due to the subarctic climate, development and exploration came to a halt in the winter months. But when spring came, Grant sent explorers along the rivers to map out more land. The Lugerians, being a former seafaring people, also explored the coasts. Between 1650-1657, the Lugerians laid claim to the entire River Basin and Lou and Kanbraska Rivers. In 1657, Grant sailed up to the Lou/Yellow River Split and was attacked by Catamounts. Grant was able to escape with two men, losing twenty in the process. He sailed back down to Union and marked the unexplored land as the “clawpeople”. In 1658, with the population of Union being around 4,000, Grant sent around two-hundred men around the region to explore. By the winter of 1658, Grant was able to map out the entire region east of the Yates Mountain Range. Between 1658-1679, Grant did not send settlers out beyond the River Basin, Lou River, or Kanbraska River. In 1680, Grant died and Séamus Yates took over as Mayor of Union, which stood at around 12,000 citizens. Yates was an ambitious young man, taking the seat as mayor at only 18 years old. Yates began sending settlers across the entire eastern country, founding multiple settlements. In 1682, Lugerians had dozens of settlements along the eastern rivers and along the southeastern coast.

On 28 August 1684, Yates held an open meeting in the Union Courthouse. This meeting lasted around twelve days and its purpose was the union of the settlements under one government. In this meeting, around two dozen settlement mayors discussed how they would found a sovereign entity to rule over the Union River Basin and what their nation would entail. For days the mayors drafted multiple constitutions and laws and outlines of their country and on the twelfth day, they were able to come to a single conclusion, which would be a directly democratic republic, where a president, congress, and supreme court would rule the country. On the twelfth day, the settlement mayors gathered around 6,000 settlers of Union into the Union Courtyard and announced the creation of the Republic of Luger. They presented the First Charters of 1684, which outlined the rights of the people, the functions of the government, and the claims. The First Charters also outlined “Logging,” which would be keeping a record of everything that happens in order to keep a history of a place, family, or area. This was created in order to keep the people safe and allow any casualties to be noted. The crowd rejoiced and the Republic of Luger was born. That next week, around 20,000 settlers from around the basin came to the Union Courtyard to hold the first presidential election. Séamus Yates ran against Hughe Woulfe, the first mayor of Arleens. Yates won the election and became the first President of Luger.

First Republic Era (1684-1732)

Séamus Yates, in his first four years as president, built Capitol Hall, the government center of Luger in the new capitol Union, expanded land up to the eastern country border and up to the Yates Mountain Range, and built a militia. By 1686, Yates was able to round up 12,000 men and created the Republican Militia. This militia served as the army and was used to expand the borders, protect settlements, and attack aggressors. Yates also created the Republican Navy, which comprised of around a dozen fishing sloops with six or more cannons on them. In September of 1686, Yates traveled up the Lou River and into the Lou/Yellow River Split, which hadn’t been explored since Grant’s escape. Yates landed on the shore of the Delafose Demain with twenty-four men. Yates and his men marched into the Domain and began looking for the “clawpeople” logged by Grant twenty nine years ago. In four days, Yates came upon the Delafose Tenantary’s manor house and requested a meeting with the Tenetary. The Tenetary, Melisentia Delafose, was a kind Catamount and housed Yates for two days. Yates, who was curious about these “clawpeople,” learned about their gavelkind system and their culture. He left after a week in the manor house and returned to Union with this newfound knowledge. It was logged in the Presidential Logbook - Exploration. Yates knew that, with this culture of secluded cat people, it would be extremely hard to conquer their land. So Yates played the waiting game.

Between 1684-1724, Luger did not expand past the Yates Mountain Range, and instead used the time to built itself. By 1724, Union had around 50,000 citizens and Lou had around 39,000. Roads were built between settlements and forts spanned the edge of the Tallbark Forest and the Great Taiga, protecting Luger from the Catamount and establishing a border. Soon, Luger had a booming timber industry, as the Great Taiga and Tallbark Forests spanned hundreds of thousands of miles of land full of forestation. Between 1714-1724, Lugerian timber companies began selling timber to Catamount domains and began setting up trade deals with them. The Delafose Domain, Duclos Domain, and Blaise Domain even allowed the timber companies to build roads into their domains to allow easier travel and trade. In 1720, around half of the Catamount domains allowed Lugerian roads to expand into them for the timber trade. Along with this, poachers and hunters saw great bounty in the Tallbark Forest and they were able to set up a rich trade with compliant domains. Due to the carnivorous diet of the Catamount, these poachers and hunters were welcomed with open arms. Due to the use of bows and traps, many Catamount domains allowed them to hunt in their own land as long as 75% of the hunt was given to the domain.

However, in 1724, the Lyons Domain, which had long kept settlers away from them and never allowed timber companies or hunters near their border, attacked a group of settlers attempting to pass the Northern Passage. The Republic of Luger saw this as an act of aggression and declared war on the Lyons Domain. This caused the northern Catamount domains to band together to defend the Northern Passage and between 1724-1726, the Lytronian War commenced. By October of 1726, Luger had pushed into the Lyons Domain and Castex Domain and captured the heads of their houses. The war ended and the domains were vassalized, their heads released back into their lands. The president at the time, Dean Farley, knew that the Catamounts were powerful people and could destroy the Republic of Luger if united, so he allowed the domains under his control to continue ruling in their own way. After their vassalization, Farley built roads into their domains and expanded up into the northernmost tip of the country, which he named Point Barrow.

In 1727, the Delafose Domain, having the warmest relationship with Luger out of all of the domains, offered itself for vassalization and Farley took the deal. In 1732, the Duclos and Blaise Domains also offered their vassalization, which Farley took. Between 1732-1746, the Republic of Luger vassalized more and more domains.

By 1746, Luger’s lands had reached Harman’s Wall. The Loyan Peninsula domains and the Picard, Rapace, and Maie domains were the only domains that completely refused vassalization. In the winter of 1746, Luger sent diplomats into the Picard, Rapace, and Loyan domains to discuss vassalization, but these diplomats were killed and left back on the border. Seeing this as an act of war, the Second Lytronian War broke out and lasted from 1746-1749. Luger sent armies into the Loyan Peninsula and the Picard, Rapace, and Maie domains to force their hands. The Republican Navy, now a dozen sloops and four frigates strong, sent marines into the Loyan Peninsula and captured multiple tenetaries. The casualty count on the Lugerian side was high and it was unknown how many Catamount were lost, but by 1748, the Loyan Peninsula domains surrendered. By the end of 1749, the Picard, Rapace, and Maie domains surrendered. Now with all of Catamount country under Lugerian vassalization, the Republic of Luger began building roads to connect each of them to the Lugerian road network. Every vassal was given freedom to rule as they please without federal intervention and over time, the Catamounts did not oppose.