Finntaire

Commonwealth of Finntaire Comhlathas na Fíontír
Flag of Finntaire Coat of arms
Motto: Nunquam libertas gratior extat "Never does liberty appear in a more gracious form"
Anthem:  An Talamh Saor An Iarthar ("The Free Land of the West")
Map of Finntaire
Official languages	Fiontirish Argallian
Recognised regional languages	Rohstian, Whitlandian, Ardoshonee, Shawnee, Askimo
Demonym(s)	Finntairish
Government	Cennétig Mac Conmara
• President	Fionntán Ó Conradh
Population
• 1969 estimate	18,000,000
• 1967 census	18,454,201
Currency	Finntairish Bonn (FB)
Date format	dd ˘ mm ˘ yyyy
Driving side	left
Internet TLD	.ie

Finntaire, officially called the Commonwealth of Finntaire (Finntairish: Comhlathas na Fíontír), also archically known as Fintaire, Fintyr, and Fionterre, is a nation in the northwest of ..., bordering ... to the south, and ... to the west. The ... Ocean is located to the east and southeast, and the Great Lakes are located in the southwest. Glascarraig is Finntaire's largest city, followed by Daingean, Baile Shidní, and Stórnabhagh. Initially inhabited by indigenous peoples, the !Scandinavians were the first Vreyans to settle in Finntaire in the 1000s, followed by Argallian fishermen in the 1470s, the latter of which quickly recognised the area as an important site for the hunting of cod and whales. This led to the creation of camps, which quickly became villages and then towns as more people arrived, not just for the fishing industry but to take part in fur trades, as well as to flee persecution back in Argaille. Following the Whitlandic Conquest of Argaille, Finntaire began to be administered as a colony, which was at odds with the autonomous guild-based leadership that had persisted since the first settlements. More Argallians arrived as a result of persecutions at home. Eventually by the 1640s, tensions grew too much between Argallian and Whitish settlements, and a Great Rising ensued where Argallians fought for greater freedoms. Though the Argallians lost and were exposed to even more persecutions, they had made many allies, especially among indigenous groups. In the late 1750s, during the Nine Years War, a Second Great Rising was proclaimed, and once again Argallians as well as some Whitish fought for greater freedoms from the crown. A compromise was reached after years of bloody fighting, with Finntaire gaining an autonomous parliament. When the Whitlandish Revolution occured in 1800, Finntaire broke free as an independent nation.

Etymology

Finntaire gets its name from a Whitlandization of the Finntairish "Fíontír", meaning "wine-land". This name was in reference to the many grapes and berries that Argallian fishers found when foraging for food and water in Finntaire. Before the arrival of the Argallian fishers, the area was known to the !Norse as "Rautamannaland" or "Elveland" as well as "Skrælingiland"; meaning "Red Man's Land", "River-land", and Skraelingland respectively. Initially Finntaire was known as the Islands of Saint Kieren, or Oileáin Naomh Ciarán, but as further expeditions revealed the size of the land, the term "Fíontír" became much more popular in usage.

History

Prehistory

Finntaire originally was populated by indigenous peoples, whose descendants live as the Ardoshonee, Shawnee, and Askimo among others. The !Scandinavians were the first Vreyans to settle in Finntaire, and they maintained a small network of villages and engaged with local inhabitants in cycles of warfare and trade, though contact to their home nations was lost over the next few centuries. It was in the 1470s that the area was once again visited by Vreyans, such as Argallian fishermen who were blown off course after hunting for cod and fish in the nearby ... region. What they found were waters so dense with fish that it was recounted that the sailors merely needed to pluck them out of the water to be guaranteed of a good meal or a profit. The fishermen made their way back, and told their secret to the Guild. The ... Fishing Guild, which had boomed due to recent expeditions, became ecstatic at the news of a formerly unknown fishing area, though they took great measures to ensure the secrecy of the site, including the step of having all navigators having to be from ... . After receiving several Tramontese ships equipped for long journeys, new fleets began to venture to modern Finntaire. By the late 1480s seasonal settlements had begun to be built on the shores of Finntaire, initially camps for foraging for berries, such as the wild grapes that gave Finntaire it's name, as well as for water and timber. The Guild soon recognised that drying fish before the return voyage would prevent the fish from spoiling before it came home, and so drying shacks began to be set up at these campsites. When attacks by the natives grew on account of a growing Vreyan presence, small forts were built around these drying houses and camps, manned by permanent guards and their families. This was the beginning of the first villages in Finntaire. In 1502, rumours about the discovery of a new island inspired the Tramontese merchant Marchionne Visconti, who quickly gained a commission from the crown of Whitland to explore the region, further increasing European presence. !Scandinavian realms, hearing the news, rediscovered the voyages of their ancestors, and also commissioned attempts to explore the region, with the !Norwegians setting up a colony in the north. Monasteries also began to be set up and some priests travelled to convert some of the natives and to administer to colonists. By the middle of the 16th century, the settlers numbered in the tens of thousands.

Tomás Ó Flannagáin, whose storming of the Baile Shidní City Hall in 1641 led to the first Great Rising

Many Argallian migrants, as well as merchants and fishers began to flee to Finntaire by the 1590s, as a result of Whitland's slow conquest of Argaille. Many of those who travelled were descendants of noble clans persecuted by the Whitish. They went on to claim larger plots of land with their own personal forces. By 1608 however, tensions had grown in the colony. There was great frustration by the settlers and migrants, who had to deal with the growing corruption and mismanagement of the Fishing Guild. A mob of clan leaders and town representatives, hundreds strong, marched into the Guild headquarters at Glascarraig and demanded a new charter. Not long after the Fishing Guild was expelled, and some of its members travelled further west and negotiated with indigenous tribes directly. Soon, Finntaire gained a monopoly on the market of furs. When Whitland had completed its conquest of Argalle, the colony began to be administered under Whitish control, with a small fleet entering the colony and imposing their authority by force. The takeover of the colony by Whitland encouraged further settlement from Argallians, Whitish, Cumbrans, and others, with the Whitish happy to see them leave, and even encouraging it by the transport of prisoners. The Whitish soon began to parcel out new territories as the colony expanded westward, with Whitish settlers given all the good land, forcing Finntairish to live on overcrowded, impoverished plots of land. By the mid 1700s the colony was polarised politically and culturally, with the semi-independent Fiontirish "town hall" democracies conflicting with the Whitish colonial administration. The Finntairish clans began to form militias to protect their institutions, and only a small spark would lead to a violent conflict.

The Treaty of Daingean, which gave Finntaire its own parliament, militia, and economic policies.

The Great Rising started on the 4th of December 1641, when local landowner and merchant Tomás Ó Flannagáin stormed the town hall of Baile Shidní with two hundred men, and although he and his men were massacred soon after, the attack inspired other attempts, and soon most of Finntaire was under the control of a revolt. Many Whitish forts were captured, and indigenous peoples, who had a longer and better relationship with the Finntairish than the Whitish, sided with the rebels. Initially going well for the Finntairish rebels, the tide began to turn when the Whitish, having dominated the sea route, ferried reinforcements over to the colony and put down any revolts with unparalleled cruelty. One writer even wrote of how a group of soldiers had gathered the population of a Finntairish village together in a monastery, before burning it down and bayonetting anyone who crawled out from the flames. The Great Rising ended when the rebels were defeated at the Battle of Magh Meall on January 4 1643. More Whitish colonists began to be settled as punishment, the lands of rebel leaders confiscated. By 1753, the Argallian Finntairish, despite making up just over half of the population, owned less than a quarter of the land. Famines were common. In 1759, in the middle of the Nine Years War, politicians Séamas Mac Cearbhaigh, Roibeard Mac Philib, and Lochlann Ó Cluanaigh declared a new Great Rising, and war once again broke out. With the help of the !Dutch, the Tramontese, the !French, and indigenous tribes yet again, they were successful. A treaty was signed at the conclusion of the Nine Years War, a compromise between pro-independence Finntairish and the Whitish government; Finntaire would gain its own parliament with a Whitish governor-general, and taxes to Whitland were very much reduced. When the Whitish Revolution occured in 1800, the Finntairish parliament decided to declare independence almost immediately.