Dzeia

The 3rd Dze Confederation Dzetśaqto
Flag Seal of Tsot'aan Xanaaq̇ut
Lands and surroundings of the Dze Confederacy, 1612 AR
Status	Independent state
Capital	Xanaaq̇ut's moving horde
Official languages	Old Dze
Ethnic groups	Dze (97.9%) Humans (2.1%)
Religion	Tẋeẋuq
Demonym(s)	Dze
Government	Semi-nomadic tribal confederation
• Tsot'aan	Xanaaq̇ut
Establishment
• Founding of the 1st Confederation	7274 BR
• Start of the Strifes	5429 BR
• Founding of the 2nd Confederation	2764 BR
• Founding of the 3rd Confederation	1598 AR
• Fall of the Human Kingdoms	1602 AR
Area
• Land Area	401,232 km2 (154,917 sq mi)
• Water (%)	7.34%
Population
• 1611 estimate	~5,000,000
• Density	12.46/km2 (32.3/sq mi)

The Dze (Old Dze: Dzetśaqto ['d͡zet͡sʼaqtɔ]), officially known as The 3rd Dze Confederation, is a medium-sized nation located in north-central Pythia with no countries bordering it, however being relatively close to Axeut, Kursibar, Kwarana, Maramuda and Xexeuara. An unknown nation in uncharted lands, it was recently unified in its totality by Tsot'aan Xanaaq̇ut, the founder of the modern confederacy.

One of the least populous countries of Sparkalia, the Dze have undergone a very recent population growth, no longer burdened by the constant conflicts against human invaders, reaching an estimated 5 million inhabitants during this century. Nontheless, it seems to be one of the oldest continuous inhabited places on the planet, having remained mostly isolated from the events that befell the surrounding lands due to it's geography and unassuming location, not being of high strategic importance.

Etymology

The name in English is merely a translation of the Old Dze name, which translates to "The Dze Oath/Alliance", with the word Tśaq meaning either word; the word Dze meaning "Stargazer" and the endonym of these people in several languages and in the Old Liturgicals.

History

The lands of the Dze Confederation have archaeological evidence of intelligent life since at least 100.000 BR, belonging to the Leaf Lance Culture, a Dze Paleolithic Culture that inhabited the mountainous central and northern regions of the country which seems to have mostly been located in the eastern ranges of the Great Mountains until about 70.000 BR when they began to expand alongside the hills and rocky outcrops towards the coast and the west. Characterized by their elaborate leaf shaped shrines and star-moon worship, two aspects that still carry on to this day in Dze cultures, by 50.000 BR the original culture split during the LNDC into several chalcolithic cultures later culminating in the Flower Stirrup Culture, which kickstarted the Dze Bronze Age by 20.000 BR. However around 8.000 BR there is archaeological, and later written, evidence for the arrival of four distinct human groups, the Longplow, Broadaxe, Highstone and Red Arrow cultures; having triggered a near all out war with the first three cultures, the Dze began to coalesce into more organized societies after the Invasions, an event happening around 7.500 BR which triggered the formation of the First Confederation. The subsequent 8.000 year long conflicts culminated in the rise of the Third Confederation in the late 16th century AR and the fall of human invaders less than a decade later.

Paleolithic Age

The archaeological record shows that these lands have been inhabited by an ancestor of the modern Dze, Tenacitherium anthropopsius, by at least 500.000 years until evolving into the modern Dze, Trachydermus terrible, around 150.000 years ago. Both a paleolithic people, it is thought that they mostly stayed around the Eastern Mountains. By around 100.000 it is estimated that the first proper culture arose, the Leaf Lance Culture, named after a valley in the far east of the country; this culture's name also comes from the name given by scientists to the arrow and spear tips found, which bear a distinct leaf shape and pattern to them.

This culture spread throughout the mountains along river valleys and cliffs where they built small shrines in moon-like patterns that are still frequented to this day, some of the oldest being carbon dated to around 110.000-90.000 BR. Other distinguishing factors of this culture are an affinity towards inhabiting mountainsides rather than caves properly and their hunting method, which is depicted in some paleo-art, which puts more emphasis in Persistance Hunting in combination with either driving or calling methods as a coordinated maneuver between archers and spearmen.

Mesolithic Age

By 70.000 BR there is evidence for a slight change in the style and production of stone tools as well as the start of ceramic pottery, distinguished by their simple shapes and square painting patterns. It is also around this time when the Leaf Lance Culture, and by extention the Dze Population, began to spread into the Central Steppes and Coastal Ranges, however still mostly remaining in the east of the country as evidence by a higher abundance of pottery remains in those areas.

The Mesolithic Age also defined the transition from fully nomadic to a semi-nomadic lifestyle as evidenced by the recent discovery of massive stone circles in river valleys which are thought to be temporary summer refuges, later abandoned in preference for warmer places in winter like the cliffs overlooking the High Springs on the northern edge of the Eastern Mountains.

Neolithic Age and the LNDC

Around 60.000 years ago arises the first evidence for animal husbandry in the lands of the Confederation, with the previously mentioned stone circles being repurposed for keeping animals as a sort of pen. This and the continuous evolution of stone cutting techniques pinpoints to the start of a Neolithic, or Late Leaf Lance, period which ended by 50.000 BR with the Late Neolithic Dze Collapse, an event of unknown causes that led to the abandoning or destruction of the stone circles and the spreading of Dze populations westwards. A possible trigger of this event is volcanic eruptions in the Coastal Ranges, of which we have some geological evidence for, but frequent, and particularly cold, years might have caused the mass death of the game the Dze hunted or simply forced an emigration westards, the ending of these winters coinciding with the flooding of several rivers, causing the destruction of most stone circles.

By the end of this period the Dze began a cultural split from the once unified nature of their species, undergoing surprisingly fast changes that prove the Dze Cultural Hibernation hypothesis, which theorizes that Dze are naturally, culturally conservative until forced by mass scale disasters to change, first evidenced by this and later quick disturbances to Dze communities inside their lands.

Chalcolithic Age

After the Late Neolithic Dze Collapse, the archaeological record shows us that the range of Dze inhabitation massively expanded in all directions, specially westwards, and from there arose several chalcolithic cultures, including the Moonblade, Caveshrine and Lowmound cultures, each of which began to participate in localized forms of trade, slowly expanding until what is called the "Steppe Roads" arose, which is a collection of several known trade routes that led from the westermost points of Dze inhabitation all the way to the Orient Fjords. One evidence of this is the usage of the Dze Hieroglyphic script by the Woodhut Culture in the far west by 38.000 BR, not that far from when the script first began to be used by the Moonblade Culture.

Key developments that occured in this time also include the start of the usage of wheels and carts as depicted in rock art and evidenced in writings by the Middle Moonblade period at 26.000 BR as well as the previous requirement of animal domestication, specifically of the creatures known in Standard as Dräihoufen, Krummhörn and the Gromähne, which allowed for the true start of the semi-nomadic lifestyle the Dze prefer nowadays as well as the invention of the stirrup, a localized development that seems to have occurred independently at least 4 times. By the end of the chalcolithic the Dze managed to spread to most of their currently owned lands, now also inhabiting the open prairies that define the landscape of their territories.

Bronze Age

By 20.000 BR the Moonblade Culture seems to have evolved into the Flower Stirrup Culture, denoted by the shape of the steel footing and the intricate bronze decorational patterns, which by 15.000 BR had spread the usage of Bronze alloys to all corners of Dze inhabitation.