Blaland
The lord regency of Blaland Lord regentdömet Africa | |
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 Flag
 Coat of arms
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| Motto: "Hagt skulla dit ljuda, vaderat gode gamla tungomal!" "Loud should it be heard, our good old tongue" | |
| topographical map topographical map | |
| Capital | Blalands Fastning |
| Official languages | Imerian, Tokti, Oshagti, Tulvul |
| Religion | The Holy Chronicles 63.5% Fierce unconquerable Sun 13% Faith of Ishiri 8% Native Star Worship 15% |
| Demonym(s) | Africans, Svart Scandermän |
| Government | Absolute Monarchy |
• Lord Governor | his grace Conall auf Barg |
| annexation by the absolute royal federation | |
| Area | |
• Total | [convert: invalid number] |
Blaland is one of the oldest federal realms and either the oldest or Second oldest oversea realm in the federation, a honour it fiercely competes with Sydvinland for. It is an old land that can be roughly divided into three geographical regions, the western drylands, the central highland, and the eastern jungles. These regions have given birth to three distinctive ethnic groups and cultures. The lowland is inhabited by the Tokt people while the highlands are inhabited by the Oshagt people. To the west in the jungles is where the Pygmy Tulvul make their home and this is also the region with the least influence culturally from the federation as a whole.
The language most spoken is Imerian even if the three native tongues are also spoken in certain degrees and especially in local poetry and song is the Oshagti tongue preferred. However despite this is the population integrated firmly into the federation and blalanders of both Tokti and Oshagti ethnic groups are seen as entirely Scanderanised and is recognised in the federation as Scanderan cultures and part of the high culture. While the same rights are also extended to the Tuvul people of the jungle is this generally not accepted in Blaland itself and the jungle dwelers are often looked down upon as barbarians.
Ethnicities
There are roughly four great ethnicities recognised by the realm itself, these are; Sashi, Tokt, Oshagt, and the Tulvul. The Tokt is the largest of the group and makes up the majority of the realm nobility and leadership while Sashi are also proportionally represented in the religious, military, and secular leadership of the realm.
Sashi
The Sashi, Saschi, or Scanderans are either mixed blood people with one Scanderan parent or people of pure Scanderan descent, like most Scanderans are they tall, broad shouldered, with blond, red, or brown hair and eyes of either yellow, blue, green or gray but due to intermixing with the locals are also red or brown eyes common as is dark brown, white, or even black hair. These people are mostly limited to the large Metropolitan areas but smaller enclaves can be found inland and they are also over represented in the nobility as marriages with Scanderans would result in the children be considered as Sashi.
Tokt
The Tokt are the majority people of the realm and is recognised as a Scanderan people. They are large and on average has red or redish brown hair that often bear a afro-texture. Their eyes tends to be brown, red, or amber in colour with a slight almond shape to them. Due to possessing the majority of the land are these people very often highly represented in the government and is only out competed by the Sashi due to the liberal designation of that group. They mostly Speak Imerian even if a few holdouts still speak the old Tokt tongue called Tokti.
Oshagt
Oshagt are the people of the mountains and while not being as rich, or as many as the Tokt have they historically been competing for leadership over the realm with the Tokt themselves. Historically have periods of Tokt independence been followed by periods of one or more dynasties of Oshagt invader kings ruled the lowlands while the highlands themselves have historically been controlled either by the same dynasties as in the south or a very loose collection of independent tribes.
The Oshagt people are tall but generally short over their shoulders. Their hair is straight and thin and tend to be white or pale blond while their eyes varies between ice blue, dark blue, and purple. Their skin colour is very dark and were originally described as "Dark blue" by early Scanderan and Tuul’Mel explorers and traders.
Tulvul
Literally meaning "Beast people" in Oshagti are Tulvul a short breed of people that on average stand only 1.3 meters tall and inhabits the jungles of the far west. They are very underrepresented in the government and culture of the realm tends to only be found in religious and noble positions very locally. While recognised as a Scanderan people by the federation as a whole do they lack that same protection in the realm itself, something that cause some friction between realm and federal authorities when the group is brought up.
They tend to be of black hair in the same afro-texture as their cousins to the east with dark skin and eyes that on average is dark brown.
Geography
The geography of Blaland is marked by the imposing Oglag mountain chain that split the continent in two. This is the cause of the rainfall being caught in the west where lush impenetrable jungles have grown up as a result but it also keeps the east as a dry grassland with little rainfall. However despite keeping rain from the east do the Oglag mountains also provide the very thing that allowed culture to grow in the east; it's stable river systems around which large city states grew up.
The Oglag mountains is an old mountain chain that traces it's lineage back almost 300 million years.
Climate
While the eastern lowlands and the western jungles experiences temperatures as high as 15 to 30 degrees Celsius in the cold and hot seasons respectably so are the middle highlands colder and tends to be experience more pleasant temperatures of -10 and 20 degrees. The Far west tend to be very rain heavy and experiences a dry and a wet season. This causes also heavy snowfall or rainfall in the wet seasons in the mountains where water is stored over the winter. During the spring and summer in the east however do these mountains water reserves melt and cause rather violent and unpredictable flooding in the rivers that dots the eastern drylands.
The east is very hot but also very dry, experience very little rainfall
Flora and fauna
Blaland has considerable wildlife habitat, especially in the west, however it is in the east where the white-bearded wildebeest and other bovids participate in a large-scale annual migration and the large hairless mammoth known as elephants that are the most famous animals of the realm. The large grassland of the east hold homes to large Rhinos, crocodiles, hordes of terror birds called ostriches while the rivers are patrolled by hippos and crocodiles. These large grassland expanses is patrolled by the huge Rocs that is the largest avian in the entire federation that is known to hunt the elephant herds that traverse the grassland. The Jungles are home to large groups of primates, and especially of note is the giant chimp that is the top predator of the jungle but also of note is the smaller jungle elephants.
The mountains themselves hosts not only the large rocs but is also home to a native griffin population that differs from the Scanderan ones with their more zebra like features compared to the Scanderan lion one, similarly is the bird part of the animal often black feathered instead of the brown that the Scanderan griffin is famous for.
Culture
Most of the culture is heavily Scanderanised, a process that begun way before the Imerian conquest as Imerian culture were very popular in most of what is today the absolute royal federation spread through trade and by mercenaries and explorers that competed with the sun worshippers for commerce and proselytisation. However despite this has a lot of native influences remained. Clothes while Scanderan in cut tends to keep the vibrant patterns that are coloured into the cloth rather than embroidered as is common in Scandera. Similarly are the old toga like clothes used by the highland kings still maintained as part of a noblemans atire. However today are they worn over Scanderan tunics rather than on their own as was the practice in the past.
Even in the culture of the federation itself is the realm a high contributor with several famous authours being from here, however it is in the movie industry where the Blaland is one of the top stars. The movie industry in Blalands Fastning is one of the largest in the federation and can easily compete with Imeriata itself as almost half of the movies in the federation is produced here. This has even developed into a new style of cinematography that is unique to Blaland. Compared to the over the top character focused movies produced in Imeriata is Blaland movies often focused mostly on a larger cast of characters and tend to be much more realistic and down to earth whith the videly popular "Slagsfilm" genre being the bread and butter of the realm where the movie just focuses on large battle with huge armies to extras often being used to produce huge spectables.
History
Most of the history of Blaland is a long competition between Tokt city states that grew up around the rivers that ran downhill from the mountains and the tribal Oshagts that at times dominated the entire or parts of the south under various conqueror dynasties. Trade with both the Tuul’Mel and the Scanderans early on fostered relationship between both peoples and a large intercontected trade network developed to which the Blalanders happily contributed spices, ivory, and other luxury goods as well as several ores while imports also fostered generally friendly relations and spread of the three major religions that were common in the pre federal federation.
In 1628 was the first Scanderan inroads into the continent begun. The realm was at the time suffering the collapse of the Ogult dynasty and the lowlands were at the time mostly ruled by small Oshagt petty kings that were confined to one or two Tokt city states. A small trade dispute between friherre Thiok auf Vagherre and the local Oshagt ruler of one of the city states resulted in Thiok getting approached with support from the local Tokt elite of the city. Thiok returned with an Imerian contingent of soldiers and with the aid of the city militia were the Oshagts forced to leave the city. However this policy was not really a high priority nor a policy that the federation actively pursued, however Tokt city states often approached Imerians to free themselves from the Oshagts and in return were they incorporated into the federation. A few small scale wars were thought between coalitions of Oshagt kings and the federation and their Tokt aligned cities, however it should be noted that wars like this was not as clear cut amongst ethnic lines as one would suspect. Free Tokt cities often fought against the Stjärnkhrone dynasty and Oshagt petty kings at times joined the federation as vassals for the king while pure Oshagt tribes also fought for the federation as mercenaries and at times did Scanderans actively fight against their own monarch as mercenaries for various Oshagt coalitions.
This however changed by the switch of the city of Ogalka to the federation and the marriage between the Stjärnkhrone dynasty and one of the last daughters of the old Kahsi dynasty that was an old Tokt dynasty that had been the last Tokt dynasty that had ruled the eastern drylands. The Stjärnkhrone dynasty now with a claim on what they saw as their rightful land suddenly begun an active policy of reconquest. Establishing a more Scanderan style feudal state under joint Tokt-Scanderan rulership. This ultimately led to the invasion of the highlands by a joint force of various highland peoples from the Stjärnkhrone domains, Vedians and Karmän from Scandera fought between mountain people from Sydvinland and despite fierce resistance were the mountains put under Stjärnkhrone control. Cut off from support from their tribal countrymen in the mountains did the rest of the realm follow suit shortly after.
While still promoting Scanderan culture were Tokt people often highly included in the new government as equals and Oshagt territories were often ruled by Scanderianised Oshagt nobles and a lot of troops from the continent were used as soldiers in other colonial campaigns. Resulting in a loyal realm that saw itself as a Scanderan realm but one not in the home continent. Both in queen Erikas war and the Imeiran civil war were Blaland a loyalist stronghold to the degree that it provided large amount of manpower to gustavolinerna in the first and were actually considered to be the place the royalists would have to fall back to if Scandera were lost in the war in the later.
In the modern day did this extend further as Blaland with Sydvinland, Austland, and Salywa formed "The League of the Loyal Sons" where the two Scanderianised realms, the colony, and the foreign realm joined together to prevent the federation from fractioning following the Atumite war and when Scandera itself were unable to keep it's colonial possession in hold were it often these realms that kept order until the home continent could provide assistance.
