Hercynia

Enlightened Kingdom of Hercynia İλustra Tҕægesom Hrsinƣ-ҕėnke (Hercynian) Ilastrah Trégisom Hrsinrenki (Hercynian)
Flag Coat of Arms
Motto: "Dħɐrɐkst ɐnɐdos Dæʢosæ." "Closer to God."
Anthem: Dħɐrɐkst ɐnɐdos Dæʢosæ "Closer to God"
Hercynia within Cybellum, 1936.
Capital and largest city	Pleroma
Official languages	Hercynian
Recognized languages	Hellian Alpanian Hellian
Ethnic groups	Hercynian- 89% Altish- 3% Aventines- 3% Auvernians- 1.5% Other- 3.5%
Religion	Hercynian Folk Religion- 45% Hercynian Catholic- 52% Other - 3%
Demonym(s)	Hercynian
Government	Absolute Monarchy
• Tréagi	Hardin II
• Deknos Madju	Pehushon Ribelva
History
• First Civilizations	5,000 BC
• Founding of the Hercynian Federation	851 AD
• Founding of the Kingdom of Hercynia	959 AD
• The Southern Rebellion	1011 AD
• King Garlas' Conversion	1013 AD
• College of Wizards Foundation	1257 AD
• Wars of Religion	1290-1520 AD
• Ninety Years' War	1520-1610 AD
• The Enlightenment Schism	1682-1701 AD
• The National Reform	1735 AD
• "The Opening"	1758 AD
• Clementine Wars	1799-1822 AD
• War of the Grand Coalition	1912-1919 AD
• Collegiate Schism	1931 AD -
Population
• 1936 estimate	11,450,000
GDP (PPP)	estimate
• Total	239,178,955,020
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	23,122.5
Driving side	right

Hercynia, or officially the Enlightend Kingdom of Hercynia (Hercynian: İλustra Tҕægesom Hrsinƣ-ҕėnke translit: Ilastrah Trégisom Hrsinrenki) is a sovereign nation located in Western Cybelleum. It's current King is Hardin II, having come into power in 1927. It is bordered to the north by Altenland, to the West by the Auvernian Federation, and to the south by the Holy Aventine Empire. Other nearby nations include Alytaj, the United Provinces, Freijian, Miastia, and Ostiar. Largely dominated by mountains, the population of Hercynia is heavily spread out among the Viridic Mountain Range, which Hercynia occupies the majority of. The nation is comprised of numerous subdivisions, called Kantons, organized at both an urban and regional level. Famed as one of Cybelleum's first beacons of Civilization, Hercynia evolved over the centuries from a formation of tribal alliances and small Kingdoms, Hercynia was eventually unified under the banner of King Garlas, and from there, gradually became a Kingdom focused more on spirituality over time. Heavily influenced by Christianity, Judaism, and numerous other esoteric and spiritual schools, the Collegiate of Wizards was founded in 1257 and grew to be one of the largest and most well funded educational institutions in the whole World.

Moving through numerous schisms and attempted wars of invasion, Hercynia quickly found itself a neutral and impartial, yet heavily involved force in Cybellean politics, serving on all sides of practically every conflict as mercenaries. Hercynian explorers and adventurers surveyed the world in search of spiritual truth and enlightenment, and Hercynia has been a place of religious freedom for centuries. At the crossroads of the Catholic, Lyndaist, and Remonstancist worlds, Hercynia is a beacon of neutrality and spiritual development in an increasingly radical and politically divided Cybelleum. As of today, Hercynia is home to numerous international organizations, such as the Grand Coalition, and a massive international banking system. Additionally, it provides home to many political and religious refugees and asylum seekers, and it also hosts the native-born College of Wizards.

Etymology

The modern term Hercynia derives from the ancient Cybello-Aryavar term Erkunia, or Ėrkóƣ which originally pertained to a local tract of forest in south-central Hercynia. The While the forest has been destroyed due to human civilization over the millennia, the Erkunian forest is believed by scholars to have originally covered most of mainland Cybellum.

Due to the remote and difficult to access location of most of modern day Hercynia, linguistic distancing and cut-off evolution eventually changed the term from "Erkunia" to "Herkinia," or Hrkinƣ. This is believed to have taken place by the time of the Alpanian Republics founding in 500 BC. Afterward, by the time of the founding of the Hercynian Federation in 851, the term had evolved into the modern Hercynian Hrsinƣ.

Hercynian's complex grammar leaves terminologies relating to ownership in the case of nationality as suffixes at the end of the word. The full terminology of İλustra Tҕægesom Hrsinƣ-ҕėnke, or the "Enlightened Kingdom of Hercynia," derives from the words İλustra meaning "enlightened, bright" or "vibrantly illustrated," and Tҕægesom, or "Traégi's-dominion/Traégi's home." Hrsinƣ-ҕėnke itself means "Hercynian Realm." Яėnke is roughly analogous to the Altenic "Reich," the Reynish "Realm," Alpanian "Regnum," and the Freijian "Rijk."

Hercynian, compared to other Cybello-Aryavar languages, has been classified as the least evolved out of all of them. Please see the language section for more information.

History

Like many other nations, Hercynia has a history that is both very rich and lengthy. Originally starting off as a very loose confederation of tribes, modern Hercynia can be traced back quite far, with the first inhabitants of the region coming many millennia ago.

Hercynia has existed as a state in one form or another consistently since 851 AD, when the Hercynian Confederation, a long stretching alliance of various mountain tribes and feudal holdings, was founded. Over 100 years later, the Kingdom of Hercynia, the current form of Hercynia's statehood, was founded in 959 AD.

It is important to note that, due to Hercynia's incredibly superstitious nature, that certain important aspects of Hercynian culture may be conjecture or mythology. Likewise, given Hercynia's incredibly rough terrain and the overall philosophy of it's ruling classes, Hercynian history tends to be much more inwardly focused.

Early History and Alpania

Given that the Hercynians didn't have any written script of their own, most sources on Hercynia during antiquity come from Aventine or more distant sources.

The first recorded peoples entered Hercynia millennia ago, though as of 1930 most archaeological evidence points to the first major tribal "evolution" happening around 5,000 BC, when agriculture became relatively permanent. Various tribes began to farm wheat, barley, other grains, and a few types of fruits as well. Sheep and goats were the most common form of livestock. Most of the Hercynian tribes would frequently wage war with one another over territory, resources, or people. Beginning in the 200s BCE, the Auvernian Republic began making incursions into Hercyanian territory, frequently being beaten back.

Aventium generally considered the highlands of Hercynia to be mostly impenetrable and generally not worth the effort at the time, and instead would find alternate routes of travel, generally through southern Auvernia or modern Allestag. Forts would be established in the lowlands, and would occasionally face raids. Most of the time, Aventine soldiers going into the mountains faced death, and the same applied to Hercynian raiders venturing too far downhill. Aventine documents eventually indicate a type of "uneasy truce" was established between most Aventine garrisons and their neighboring Hercynian tribesmen - Aventine influence would be limited and Hercynian raids would stop attacking Aventine garrisons.

Hercynian Federation

The Hercynian Federation began as a tribal alliance between various Hercynian tribes and minor nobles in 851 AD in an effort to combat the growing strength of the Aventine Empire in the region. Parts of the lowlands had been attacked in previous years in efforts to Christianize the Pagan population, and had gone so far as to breach into the central plateau, sacking various settlements and sending missionaries.

Two tribal chiefs, Kakarus and Petisai, established an alliance and began expanding as other tribes of various sizes joined as well, and by 853, roughly half of the tribes in the plateau, and most of the tribes in the southern regions of Hercynia had joined the Federation. Launching an attack on missions and Aventine garrisons, the Hercynians managed to push back the Aventines over the course of the next eight years, ending in 861 after the Battle of Geks. The Battle of Geks resulted in a massive failure for the Aventines, destroying four legions in under five hours as Aventine forces were trapped in a mountain pass. The first Federation then led an incursion into northern Aventine territory in 864, which was a massive failure as the unorganized Hercynian tribesmen launched a charge against Aventine forces in an open field. Seeing as both forces had inflicted massive defeats on one another, the Aventine Empire and the Hercynian Federation agreed on a "truce" through discreet channels.

After that, the Hercynian Federation entered a period of mixed political gains. Despite gaining numbers and territory through more tribes joining them, the Federation began to steadily lose power due to the loose foundation it had for rules. The Hercynian Federation continued to have a series of political ups and downs within it, separated by numerous factions based on literal tribalism and material conflicts. Internal strife was common, and the Federation came close to civil war multiple times. The additional conflict between the tribal chiefs and local lords who either remained Pagan, adopted Christianity, or formed some syncretic version also caused a great deal of strife, as the unwritten Hercynian constitution said nothing about religion. By the beginning of the 910s or 920s CE, the Hercynian Federation was reputed to be nothing more than an underlying military alliance between different feuding elites in the highlands, who squabbled amongst each other before, only uniting towards external threats.

Beginning in 933, one of the more powerful tribal chiefs, Djedjo, had consolidated power in the Plateau and began expanding his tribe's personal power in spite of the unwritten "constitution" that the Federation had. Djedjo unified the tribes in the central plateau of Hercynia, and began to expand westward until he reached the highlands. At the same time, he sent his two sons northward in an attempt to conquer the northern mountain ranges and lowlands, and they proved successful. His youngest son died of plague during an outbreak in 935, however. Afterwards, Djedjo continued to expand his territories until he eventually managed to incorporate the remainder of tribes under him, either through peaceful means, or more rarely, war. Having done this, Djedjo unified most of modern day Hercynia under his ruling house, and established a formal "Kingdom of Hercynia" in 959 after ruling as de facto King for around 16 years. His rule would suffer numerous issues, and stability wouldn't set in until his eldest son, Vattarseph, took over in 969. Vattarseph made considerable efforts to consolidate power, and the Hercynian Kingdom managed to enter a period of peace around 984.

Kingdom of Hercynia, King Garlas, and the Southern Rebellion

Vattarseph died in 999, and his son, Sanno, had died in 996 in a mountaineering accident or from a plague. This left the throne to his unprepared and generally regarded as "initially incompetent" son, Garlas. Garlas took the throne in early 1000, and his rule was immediately beset by poor harvests and poor management of what food was left. Being woefully unprepared for his rule, Garlas initially sunk into a depression that lasted for the first few years of his rule before eventually begrudgingly accepting his position as King in more than just name. By then, however, discontent among the Lords beneath him had grown high, and fights over taxation and tribute broke out early on in 1004, leading to Garlas having to put down occasional revolts across the nation, doing so begrudgingly. A period of stagnation and famine set in, lasting from 1006 to 1008, and support for the King began to dwindle in all parts of the Kingdom.

The College of Wizards and the Wars of Religion

The "All Seeing Eye of Truth," commonly called just the "All Seeing Eye," is the sigil and seal of the Hercynian College of Wizards.

Ninety Years War

A card showing Hercynian mercenaries during the Ninety Year's War.

Neutrality in the War and the Collegiate Schism

In 1912, with the outbreak of the Grand War of the Coalition, hiring requests for Hercynian mercenaries erupted worldwide from nations on both sides of the conflict and from neighboring nations seeking to quell internal unrest or to help keep their frontiers defended. By 1915, roughly half of the entire Hercynian military was serving abroad, in both sides of the war, and abroad. The majority of these soldiers fought in Cybelleum, primarily on the Southern and Western fronts, and were recorded as being some of the best fighters by all combatants involved.

However, as the war continued and disrupted the world more and more, Tréagi Adalar I of Hercynia reached out to Emperor Pius VII of Alpana and Kaiser Siegfried numerous times in efforts to encourage peace talks and to resolve the war through peaceful means. These were initially refused, but by 1919, Emperor Pius VII had changed his mind and agreed, leading to the Pleroma Conference where the peace treaties of the War of the Grand Coalition were initially worked out before moving to other nations to finalize the treaties. Additionally, the Grand Coalition, formed as an international body, was to be headquartered in southern Hercynia.

Compared to many other countries, the 1920s proved to be a great decade for Hercynia. King Adalar I passed due to old age in 1927, and his 27 year old son, Hardin II, took the throne soon afterwards.

Geography

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  Mountain ranges with valleys in between are the most common feature of Hercynian landscapes.

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  Berg Daath is one of the highest castles in Hercynia, part of a 11 series of castles going up mount Dholys, tasked with also providing protection for the capitol city of Pleroma.

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  Even the Hercynian lowlands are considerably higher than most other regions.

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  Hercynia technically has one coastline, which is a lake between Hercynia and Allestag, commonly called Lak Eisgel. Pictured here is the lake town of Lakusdon, or, literally, "laketown."

Hercynia encompasses the majority of the middle of the Viridic Mountain range, and because of the wide variety in landscapes, individual regions within Hercynia usually tend to have much variation in temperature and climate that is heavily dependent on their altitude. The majority of the country is incredibly mountainous as well, with the rest of the country generally consisting of valleys and hillscapes, though small patches of plains are more common in the far eastern and far western areas of Hercynia.

Many tall mountains exist in the center and eastern regions of Hercynia, with the largest of them being Mount Dholys, the tallest mountain in the world, at 7897 meters, or 25,909 feet. About sixty of Hercynia's mountains exist at over 4,000 meters, and another ten or so are over 5,000.

The central and western parts of the nation form the more populous Hercynian plateau, and around 45% of the total population of Hercynia resides within this area, and most of Hercynia's cities lie within this zone. Most of the lakes and rivers within Hercynia either are present or flow through this region. The largest of these lakes is Lake Khifas. The plateau features valleys, hillscapes, and pastures. Most agriculture within Hercynia is also located here. Smaller plateaus exist in the eastern regions of the nation as well.

Hercynia's lowlands are located in border regions and are sparsely populated when compared to the plateau, and are generally used for agricultural purposes and trade with neighboring nations. The lowlands are heavily fortified due to concerns about foreign military intervention.

Climate

Climate in Hercynia varies greatly, though this is affected most by altitude. As would be expected, higher regions are generally colder and experience more snowfall while the lowlands and valleys within Hercynia are warmer and generally tend to receive a mix of rainfall and snowfall.

Politics

The Hercynian political system is ancient and antiquated, originally coming from a tribal confederation that evolved into a kingdom mirroring many others in continental Cybellum. With the founding of the Wizards' College in 1257, Hercynia's political system found itself increasingly involved with various aspects of the college, and to this day the two remain largely intertwined. Most in the Hercynian government have been some sort of educator or collegiate student in the past.

Compared to many other governments, Hercynia's government does not give much funding to the departments pertaining to foreign affairs. Instead, given it's neutral position, Hercynia's government tends to focus inwards.

Political Factions

As is the case in many other nations, Hercynia's government has it's own internal factions, generally orienting themselves along the standard "reform and progress versus tradition and stability" dichotomy. However, this generally pertains more to material matters, and as such, many politicians within Hercynia generally don't disagree much, and finding compromises are easier than in more material-minded nations. Occasionally, Spiritual conflicts do erupt, and when these do, the politically based factions tend to group off together into rival camps.

Within Hercynia, as of 1936, around three major camps exist. The Reformists, the Conservatives, and the Antediluvians. Each of these generally tend to have a rather similar ideology, at least materially, but spiritually they tend to exist on a somewhat loose spectrum. The Reformists, headed by Pehushon Ribelva, the current Head Wizard of the Hercynian Court, maintain most of the power as of 1936. Opposing them are the Conservatives, headed by Armando Cabrerra. The Antediluvians are a small but growing faction in Hercynian politics, headed by Nertosh Juvoi, the head of the Hercynian Royal Guard.

Foreign Relations

Hercynia has a complex relationship with most other nations, especially those bordering it. Having a long history of conflict with Altish, Auvernian, and Aventine states bordering it, Hercynia has generally elected to remain politically neutral as much as possible as to not incur the wrath of its neighbors. This also ends up affecting policies made in regards to the Hercynian economy and military. Since the founding of the Hercynian Kingdom and it's initial expansion, Hercynia's borders have remained largely static, only changing when foreign nations violated it's neutrality. While not a member of the Grand Coalition, Hercynia was fundamental in it's establishment, working closely with the Aventine Empire and various Lyndaist states in forming the "international forum" to avoid future conflicts. Likewise, many international organizations - including the Grand Coalition - are either headquartered inside of or have outposts inside of Hercynia's borders. Hercynia also maintains diplomatic relations with many nations due to it's mercenary expenditures, from Aestia to Tellures.

Berg Hod is the current residence of Kaiser Siegfried III, and part of the castle also functions as an organization for the Altish diaspora throughout the world.

Hercynia has acted as a safehaven for many throughout history who have been exiled from their homelands, including the exiled Kaiser of Altenland, Siegfried III. Because of actions such as this, alongside mercenary expeditions, Hercynian neutrality has been questioned numerous times.

While generally seen as a politically neutral country that treats most, if not all nations equally, Hercynia's diplomatic relations are widely considered "chilly."

Judiciary and Law Enforcement

Judiciary in Hercynia is rather simple - courts are organized by region, with a national court pertaining to national laws. Additionally, a Collegiate Court pertaining to legal matters inside the College of Wizards, and a military court that usually deals with soldiers and the military.

Law Enforcement in Hercynia is meant to be largely even handed, and this is accomplished by having no police force, but rather repurposing various military units to temporarily function as police or gendarmerie for specific regions for a time before being rotated. This is meant to reduce corruption by having an impartial police force. Trust is established by working alongside local officials. These troops are generally referred to the locals as Miλⴽ Jeϣ or "Milts Jeerl," literally "Junior Soldiers." They work hand in hand with the Internal Security Board to ensure public safety.

Military

The military of Hercynia is rather unique compared to other Cybellian militaries. When inside the borders of Hercynia, the Hercynian military (Hercynian: Miλⴽ Hrsinƣ-ҕėnke or "Milts Hrsinrenke") functions as a primarily defensive and policing force, and it generally spends its time preforming training, civil building projects, or policing the local populace.

The military is divided up into four sections. These are the Army, or "Milts," the Internal Security Board (Hercynian: İnd𐒉 Miλⴽ Ξėrdөs, "Indja Milts Kwehrdois"), the Royal Guard (Hercynian: Tréagᐱ Ξėrdөs, "Treagew Kwehrdois"), and the Air Force (Hercynian: Por𐒉 Ξėrdөs, "Porjaa Kwehrdois"). Of these, the largest is without a doubt the general Army, which is tasked with most of domestic and foreign issues pertaining to defense. The Internal Security Board, or the IhMKw, is tasked with more domestic disputes. While they don't police the general populace like the general Army do, they work more as detectives and as heavily armed police working to weed out internal strife and internal dissidents. They commonly are dispatched in response to cases of "black magic," or rogue witches or wizards attempting to curse people. The Royal Guard, as its name would suggest, is made to protect the Royal Family and other important government and Collegiate figures. The Air Force, while small, is made to provide an initial level of defense against possible invasion.

Two Hercynian mercenaries stand guard on a mission in Auvernia's Sublustrian holdings.

Outside of Hercynia, soldiers from the military, commonly referred to colloquially as "Milts" generally find themselves in the service of foreign nations. Owing to a large mercenary history stretching back to before the founding of the Hercynian Federation, individual Hercynian army regiments are generally hired out by various foreign powers to preform many tasks on their behalf. These can include colonial patrols, capturing forts, counterinsurgency, assassination, and more. Owing to Hercynia's neutrality, Hercynian regiments can be hired by any nation provided that they are paid well enough for their services, and Hercynian mercenaries served in the War of the Grand Coalition on both sides. This "foreign service" is commonly referred to as Gosti Ambigat, or GosAm for short.

Hercynian soldiers are required to follow a "code of honor" when serving outside the Kingdom, in which individual regiments are required to never fire on one another, get in the way of another regiment, or overall cause disruptions that would negatively affect Hercynia on the world stage. As would be expected, this foreign service has caused numerous diplomatic incidents between Hercynia and other countries, especially Altenland, Alytaj, Auvernia, and the SIA. In recent years, foreign interventions in Nymeria and Aestia have caused the majority of these diplomatic incidents.

In the Army and Royal Guard, service is generally open only to men, though since The Opening, individual regiments have been allowed to recruit women into their ranks for the purposes of espionage, support, or frontline combat. The Air Force and IhMKw both openly recruit women into their ranks.

A Royal Guardsman.

Demographics

Ethnic Groups and Languages

The main ethnicity within Hercynia are Hercynians, a Cybello-Ayravar group who are believed to have originated from the Velivoi steppes millennia ago. Having conquered, displaced, and intermarried with the native old Cybelleans, the Hercynians proceeded to rule over them for a time before the smaller old Cybelleans were assimilated into ancient Hercynian culture. The Hercynians comprise about 89-90% of Hercynia's total population, and they speak Hercynian as their primary language.

Apart from the ethnic Hercynians, the lowlands and border regions have small numbers of Auvernians, Aventines, and Altish peoples living within the nations, generally as farmers or urban laborers. In total, they comprise about 7-7.5% of the total population of Hercynia. Most of these peoples, with the exception of those living in the lowest lowlands right on the border, generally speak Hercynian in their day to day lives, but use their native languages at home. In recent decades, however, there have been efforts to "Hercynize" these groups, and most of these regional minorities, especially the youth, are being culturally assimilated into mainstream Hercynian culture.

Due to the College of Wizards being one of the most widely renowned educational institutions in the world, there are many foreigners from across the world who reside in Hercynia for educational purposes. In total, about 3% of the total Hercynian populace is of foreign origin at any given time. Most commonly these peoples come from Sophia, Alytaj, Volkhov, Saidokamanagar, Kefalion, the United Provinces, southeastern Tellures, and Anzulab. Hercynia maintains a relatively flexible policy on immigration, but only in relation to the Colleges. Provided they can "prove their worth," anyone from anywhere can apply to the College of Wizards. Notable foreigners include Armando Cabrerra, a noted politician, and Yohannes Tedesse Zekai, the head of the Philosophical University. While most students return home, if capable of doing so, foreigners who wish to remain in Hercynia are able to provided they assimilate into mainstream Hercynian culture and society. They are also required to serve at least 3 years of military service with the Milts, and generally work as local guides, translators, or more.

Healthcare

Healthcare in Hercynia is rather unique when compared to neighboring Cybellean nations. Generally considered to be slightly above the Cybellean standard of healthcare on the standard of technology, Hercynian healthcare is considered to be, like many other things in the nation, to have a heavy spiritualist slant. Alongside standard medical procedure, most Hercynian physicians in both urban and rural areas make heavy usage of shaman-like practices and self-hypnosis or autosuggestion to manage pain post surgery.

In addition, antibiotics such as penicillin, while new discoveries, are used in tandem with more traditional forms of medicine to treat physical trauma.

Dr. Kether Vardosish is considered to be one of the best physicians in all of Hercynia, and commonly incorporates autosuggestion into his practice.

Economy

Banking

Hercynia has a short but elaborate history of banking. After declaring "perpetual neutrality in world affairs" during The Opening, nobles and merchants from across Cybelleum began to use Hercynia as a massive bank reserve to store excess and incredibly valued amounts of gold, art, and other forms of wealth. All Hercynian banks operate via client numbers for accounts, where the identities of each account holder is replaced with a number that is given to only the client, the bank, and occasionally the family members of the client. As of 1932, this is generally seen as the most safe and anonymous way to do banking in the world. If clients so desire to, they can replace or supplement their number code with a nickname. Banks in Hercynia take assets regardless of proof of origin.

A large amount of Hercynian banks, all operated by the government, front companies, or the college, operate secret or undisclosed bank vaults and underground storage facilities. These store various valuables, and are generally located within the mountains around the Hercynian plateau. These places are generally not subject to any regulations from the international community, and are generally used to store the valuables of the incredibly wealthy. In recent years, due to the development of helicopters, increasingly remote vaults have been constructed.

Mercenaries

One of the largest and most renowned elements of the Hercynian economy is it's large and extensive Mercenary company system. As of 1930, the mercenary industry continues to be an incredibly lucrative source of income for the Hercynian state, and the Hercynian military as a whole. It is estimated that around 60% of the Hercynian army's current funding comes from foreign suppliers. Economically speaking, the Mercenary contracts sold to various nations, corporations, and occasional non-state-actor leaves Hercynia with something that most other nations wouldn't get - near unrestricted access to worldwide markets in spite of location. While Hercynia is a small nation without the largest industrial base, Hercynian troops during initial deployment tend to leave Hercynian goods and products in places, bartering with natives and trading with local government officials. Because of this, it is generally easier for Hercynia to acquire trade agreements with foreign nations in far-off lands, such as Gatanao or Wakan Musir.

Due to Hercynia's neutral status ensuring that it is a safe place for international banking and tax havens, Hercynia's offset natural wealth allows it to additionally funnel money into training and supplying it's mercenaries in a way that gives them some of the highest-tier training and equipment in the world. Due to this, along with a policy of "no contract too small," Hercynia has effectively cornered the global mercenary market, or stands very likely to completely dominate it by the end of the century. Likewise, Hercynia's army will train local forces on behalf of governments willing to pay.

Hercynian Mercenaries in Valel next to the ruins of a temple established by the Second Anzulabic Empire, 1932.

Hercynia's army is also known to serve both sides of a conflict, as evidenced by it serving both sides during the War of the Grand Coalition. Due to their honor code and local Hercynian laws, mercenary regiments do not fight one another or interrupt the missions of other mercenary regiments, even if orders conflict. Hercynia's government insures that mercenary rates are "charged accordingly," generally skirting the line between charging "just enough" and "too much" while also taking unfavorable jobs.

Due to Hercynia's government supporting a pro-esotericism policy, Hercynia will actively seek out mercenary contracts in areas deemed "archaeologically and spiritually important to humanity" so that Hercynian Wizards and Collegiate officials will be able to either study artefacts or "repatriate" them back to Hercynian soil. This has caused diplomatic incidents in the past, but unlike how mercenaries generally end up on both sides of armed conflicts, when artefacts are looted by mercenaries to be sent back to the College, there is generally nothing more that can be done.

Current major mercenary deployments as of 1933 include the Klungs Lung-Pa garrison, the training of the Kalriki Defense Forces, Anzulabic Ligation Port Policing, the "International Sublustrian Courier Service," and the current most lucrative one, the Alircan Railplane Security Force. The ARSF, having been established in 1922, defends the Alircan Railplane Network in Northern and Western Nymera. Working with the governments of Auvernia, Oscaunja, Valel, and Simé, it provides protection against bandits in and around the railplane lines, especially in Mkukinyika.

Because of Hercynia's tendency to get involved as neutral mercenary peacekeepers, one common derogatory nickname for mercenaries is "World Police."

Science and Technology

- Long history of scientific and technological development

- Medieval, renaissance, industrial stuff, modern era

- Invented gyro stuff

- A decent amount of medicine

- types of trains/rail systems

- mining methods

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Culture

Art

Art in Hercynia has always aimed to make an emotional impact in the form of introspection rather than idealization as is seen in the art of nations such as Altenland or Aventium.

Architecture

Architecturally speaking, Hercynia has a very unique architectural style when compared to neighboring nations. However, the majority of Hercynian architecture is considered to be west Cybellean or Aventine in style. Having a large architectural history, Hercynia displays many different architectural styles, ranging from Yarolingian to Neoclassical. Additionally, since the Opening, Hercynia has witnessed an expansion of eastern styles from Tellures and Crocinia. The most influential of these eastern styles come from the Airyanem Vaejah, Muziris, the KLP, and parts of the Kumabetsu Union. It is not uncommon to see at least one foreign styled pagoda in major cities. Due to Hercynia being largely at peace for the past four centuries, different architectural styles have been able to survive in the country due to lack of invading armies destroying them. Many famous buildings of varying styles survive today, the earliest of these are from the 1000s. In the modern era, many famous Hercynian buildings, such as the Cenotaph of the Tablet, serve multiple purposes, either as places of worship, places of study (in the case of College buildings), monuments, museums, or government services.

Hercynia is unique in it's architectural styles due to the amount of metaphor and symbolism used within various buildings. Due to the esoteric and occult nature of Hercynia's society and popular culture, symbolism is heavily used in most every major public and private building project in various ways. Generally, this is shown in the usage of different shapes, emblems, statues, or sigils. These can be outside the building, either in courtyards or, in the case of sigils, on the walls of the building itself, or on the inside of it. On the interiors of buildings, the same is also common. Numerology also plays a role, especially in the height and length of a building, or the amount of windows, pillars, doors, rooms, etc a building has. For example, the Cenotaph of the Tablet in Pleroma measures 343 meters across, in reverence to the 7 Hermetic Principles. Seven squared is 49, and 49 times seven is 343. This choice was intentional during the building process.

Most vernacular styles are relatively simplistic waddle and daub buildings with wooden exteriors. If not that, then simple log and wooden cabins are often used as well. In addition, stone is a major part of Hercynian architecture, with the interior supports of many wealthy houses, and the bases of most houses regardless of economic class, being made out of stone or some form of stone-like material such as concrete or brick.

Many barns and storage facilities in Hercynia (with the exception of artifacts and bank vaults) are made out of simpler materials, such as wood, waddle and daub, or in certain cases, nothing but earth itself. These buildings, also known as "burdas" (Hercynian: Brdus) are commonly used to store things underground during the colder months of the year and often act as root cellars.

Hercynia likewise has a long history of underground dwellings, or living in caves. Hercynians both rich and poor have lived in caves or cavern systems throughout history, with some going so far as to even repurpose mines as houses or to carve large areas out of mountains so as to create a house there.

The "Cenotaph of the Tablet," a large monument dedicated to housing the Emerald Tablet, located in Pleroma.

Food and Drink

Due to Cydalia's agricultural limitations, most alcoholic beverages were produced at a family level or in local breweries until the Clementine period.

The most common alcoholic beverages in Hercynia are beer, cider, wine, and mead, but the most popular drink in Hercynian culture is absinthe. Made from distilling anise and fennel, modern absinthe was invented in eastern Hercynia on the outskirts of Lakusdon in 1788. Eleleth Jusop, a brewer from Lakusdon and professor at a local College outpost, claimed to have been given the drink in a dream by an angel. Passing around the recipe to various families around him, and to those passing by his College outpost, the recipe soon spread throughout Hercynia, and within a few years, western and central Cybelleum.

Hercynia is partially known as the "land of strange diets," though due to spiritual developments within recent centuries, this has changed to a degree. While some still maintain that abstaining from certain foods be it meat, fish, celery, or even bread and water can bring about spiritual enlightenment or help achieve it, due to the more individualist beliefs pushed since the 1750s, this has slowly changed. Nowadays, Hercynian cuisine is wide and varied, taking influence from across the world, and can best be described as "heavy in everything, but moderated intensively." Hercynians typically have a lot of access to food of varying types, from grains to meat and all in between with little issue, and typically consume a fair amount of food given the harsh terrain and high caloric strain of living. Vegetarian dishes are common as bases, but typically have meat or some other protein added to them for additional flavor or nutritional value. Cheeses are also commonly consumed and put as popular additions to foods, and Hercynia is the origin place of fondue.

Hercynians typically eat 1-2 meals per day with occasional snacking in between, due to heavy social pressure to emulate certain fasting methods put forwards by numerous spiritualists throughout history. Meals are heavy in everything, and are typically incredibly dense as well. Compared to many other nations, there is surprisingly little class variation in foods in Hercynia, with the lower classes and up to the Royals eating roughly the same food.

Language

Hercynia has it's own unique language, and the linguistic identity of Hercynian forms a major part of it's native culture. This is especially true in it's semi-syllabary writing system. While mainly an alphabet, the Hercynian writing system uses a wide variation of characters, taking most from Latin or Hellenic bases, and adding their own. Their 55-character semi-syllabary also maintains a heavy emphasis on metaphor, with some Hercynian poets deciding to write in what appears to most to be actual gibberish, only for the true meaning behind the poem to be based in and around the metaphorical meaning each letter has.

Character	Comparison	IPA	Name	Metaphorical Meaning
A/a	"Aah" as in Reynish and	Example	Aah	The Beginning or Creation of something.
Ѧ/ѧ	"Au" as in Auberon	Example	Auh	What springs from creation, initial growth, the beginning of life.
Æ/æ	"Ae" as in Dominæ	Example	Aey	Joining of two things into one, unification, unity. Refers to a spiritual sense.
∀/ɐ	"Aah" as in Reynish are	Example	Aáh	As above, so below. Duality in a material sense.
Ą/ą	"Aah" as in Czajczic rybą	Example	Aoh	Moving between above and below, a bridge of incidents.
B/b	"B" as in Altish beklommen	Example	Bee	False dichotomies.
C/c	"Ch" as in Czajczic cześć or Reynish chat	Example	Chee	A container like a bowl or a glass. Something constraining.
D/d	"D" as in Norric damm	Example	Dee	A real struggle, something worth fighting for. Inevitable victory.
E/e	"Eee" as in Reynish pea	i	Ee	The spread of unenlightened ideas.
Ė/ė	"Ehh" as in Reynish example	Example	Eh	The spread of enlightened ideas.
G/g	"G" as in Altish gekommen	Example	Guh	The mental being. The first Hermetic principle.
H/h	"H" as in Reynish hello	Example	Haich	The joining of two ideas that were previously opposed to one another into a synthesis.
Ħ/ħ	"Kh" as in Airyan Khanum (Airyan: خانم)	x	Khaich	Persistence despite things seeming difficult or not making sense.
I/ı	"I" as in Reynish eye	Example	Iei	A base state, someone unenlightened.
İ/i	"Ih" as in Reynish anise	I	Ih	An idea, becoming enlightened.
Ʒ/ʒ	"Ich" as in Altish dich	Example	Ich	Mathematics, numerology, and the importance of numerical values.
J/j	"Ja" as in Reynish yes	Example	Yah	Nostalgia, sehnsucht.
Ƣ/ƣ	"-ia" as in Aventian auxilia	Example	Ia	A culture, a group of people, a race. The land they originate from.
ꄽ/𐒉	Stressed "Jaa" as in Altish ja	Example	Jaa	Revision of the past, changing of the past, the ability to warp time to suit one's present.
Ѫ/ѫ	"Juh" as in Reynish judge	Example	Juh	The Creator, God, some sort of higher power.
K/k	"Kuh" as in Eritian canto	Example	Kuh	The choice between good and bad that all beings choose.
Ԕ/ԕ	"Ks" as in Reynish makes	Example	Eks	Worldly conflict, combat, and in some instances, weaponry. It represents the materialization of spiritual conflicts as well.
Ξ/ᕃ	"Kwuh" as in Auvernian quoi	Example	Kwuh	As above, so below. Additionally, it can reference the three planes (physical, mental, and spiritual).
L/λ	"Luh" as in Reynish lot	Example	Luh	Resistance.
Ł/ʢ	"Wuh" as in Reynish world	Example	Wuh	Material constraints.
M/m	"M" as in Altish macht	Example	Emm	A house, a home, families.
N/n	"N" as in Auvernian Nord	Example	Enn	Learning from past mistakes, learning in general, the past making a better future.
Ŋ/ŋ	"Ng" as in Norric ingeting	Example	Ong	The left of something, a negative pole.
Ɲ/ɲ	"Ny" as in Varillan Nuñez	Example	Nyeh	The right of something, a positive pole.
O/o	"Oh" as in Reynish oh	Example	Oh	The whole, the universe, the self, everything. Infinite possibilities.
Ó/ó	"Ooh" as in goop	u	Ooh	The sun, enlightenment, forbidden knowledge becoming known.
ᐃ/ᐱ	"Ew" as in Reynish yew	ʉ	Ewh	Newly uncovered possibilities. Moving upwards in life. Two separated paths becoming one.
の/ҩ	"Oe/ö" as in Altish gehörte	ø	Oeh	Self introspection, searching within oneself.
Ө/ө	"Oi" as in Reynish toil	Example	Oi	Separation, divorce of people or things, a wedge.
P/p	"Puh" as in Reynish pit "	Example	Puh	Descent through the shadow to return later on.
𐐖/𐐾	"Pfuh" as in Altish pferde	Example	Pfuh	Speech, the verbal and written word(s), and the power it holds. The power of speech.
R/r	"Ruh" as in Reynish Reynland	Example	Ruh	The principle of gender.
Я/ҕ	Trilled "Rrr" as in Varillan perro	Example	Arro	Negative traits.
Ϣ/ϣ	"Rl" as in Reynish snarl	Example	Arl	Humility, positive traits.
𐐊/𐐲	"Rzh" as in Czajczic przepraszam	Example	Rzeh	The principle of vibration, energy within everything.
S/s	"S" as in Auvernian salut	Example	Ehss	The principle of rhythm, the rhythm within all things.
山/ㄓ	"Sk" as in Altish sklaven	Example	Skes	Protection, a ward against bad things or negative energy.
Ƒ/ƒ	"Sh" as in Reynish should	Example	Shes	The energy or "winds" of change. Unstoppable change for better or worse.
ß	Hissed "Sss" as in Altish großer/grosser	Example	Sess	Breaking of false dichotomies.
Ж/ж	"Shun" as in Reynish attention	Example	Shun	Reflection of an action.
T/t	"Tuh" as in Reynish total	Example	Tuh	Return from the shadow back into the light.
Ꮅ/ⴽ	"Tsuh" as in Czaczic Kopac	Example	Tsuh	The underlying connection all humans have, the underlying connection that all living things have, and all things on the planet have.
Þ/þ	"Thuh" as in Old Norric varð (became) or Reynish the	Example	Thoth	The occult, the esoteric as a whole.
U/u	"Uuh" as in Airyanem farahavar	Example	Uuh	Lagging behind something, being unsure.
V/v	"Fuh" as in Reynish fare	Example	Fuh	Cause and effect.
W/w	"Vuh" as in Altish welt	Example	Wuh	Decisiveness.
Z/z	"Zuh" as in Altish zeit	Example	Zuh	A profound realization, or the fruition of events coming to pass, similar to the climax of a story.
Ƶ/ƶ	J as in Auvernian Jaques	Example	Zhome	The finality or finishing of something. The end.
ǂ	A click noise.	Example	Tsk	A nail. Unification of two into one in a material sense.
Ꮰ	No sound, indicates repetition of a syllable. "KeᏠ" would mean "Ke-ke."	Example	Keke	Cyclical movement, repeating cycles.

Sports

- skiing - hornussen - biathalon - stonetossing - schwingen