The first known and recorded establishments of organised civilisations were in F'yore, during what the Quldafjordians would call the Age of the Third Clans. This occurred roughly a 1000 years prior to St Dafyd, around 800 TF. This period is known as the Early Ages in Olivia.
F'yore was the first region to develop Kingdoms as we know of them today. The groups of settlements, highly valuable due to fertile ground and resources within the Froix Mountains, formed larger and larger structures of leadership, with conflict becoming easy when various Kings would fight for the best strategic locations and land, and trade with one another.
There is some debate if the Rhussom Empire had any influence on F'yore - trade between Olivia and Eleanor was infrequent but not unknown. After all, the current weekdays are from Eleanor as the Rhussom traders used a six-day week to organise their calendar and this seeped into Olivian cultures as they expected traders in the same six-day cycle. However, there was little attempt to try and claim land in Olivia due to its distance, so there would have been little political influence.
F'yore had many small kingdoms in the Early Ages - the Kingdom of Welle, Noixbal, Terra, Chute, Mell, Hull, Champrouge, Dechiré, Volleu, Iver, Jun, and Iron. Their appearance and disappearance are sporadic and complex, with the Kingdom of Iron being one of the least written about, the Kingdom of Hull occurring twice during this time, the Kingdom of Terra changing its territory wildly, and the Kingdom of Volleu being the longest lasting.
The Kingdoms of Welle and Iver are notable for the fact they were the homestead to the Wels and Rhute people's respectively. Both are entrenched in the history of the region and to this day are referenced by the Lords of these two areas as points of pride. The Wels people are more inclined to assimilation than the Rhute people - the more recent War of the Bandetlands was partly motivated by the Rhute people denying rule by any larger party and still creates contention between the new Kingdom of F'yore and the Bandetlands. One can read An Account of the Difficulty with the Rhute by Magus Oliviér Huet stored in the Guild of the Ash Tree in Fumont, or The Wels and their traditions by Speaker Jon Poisson stored in the Church of Noixside in Noixbal.
The Battelfelds have historically been contentious due to its links between Northern F'yore, Southern F'yore and Yule's Heart. The Kingdoms of Mell, Hull, Champrouge and Dechiré have had many a conflict in this region during the Early Ages in attempts to control these regions, especially the Forge d'Or, the oldest of the Dwarven forges. The Siege of Forge d'Or is a well recorded event where the Kingdom of Noixbal took control of the forge.
One can read many of the events that took place in F'yore through each of the major settlements archives, as each recorded their own victories. I am aware a compendium is being compiled by the Academy in Jaunport and so I shan't go into further detail.
The Dwarven Forges
It's important at this point to note that the Dwarven Forges, known today as self-sustaining city states and economical powerhouses as well as a strong Dwarven alliance, did not all appear at once. Some of their inhabitants believe the ur-Dwarves, the Dryntian pantheon, are the forefathers of the forges but this is a modern myth, propagated due to the fact there are now seven forges. Before all were recognised, they worshiped the pantheon equally.
The oldest forge is Forge d'Or who took advantage of the gold veins found in the Froix Mountains. Modern inhabitants claim their forefather as Glae, the ur-Dwarf of poetry and music. Their symbolic metal is Gold, of course, and their pins are made of such.
Skyforge and Saulstein came next, each securing a hand in skill with light and heavy metals respectively. Skyforge associates themselves with Dor, the ur-Dwarf of thunder and the sky, and Saulstein with Glam, the ur-Dwarf of fire and war. Their symbolic metals are Aluminium and Titanium respectively.
The Cdonnic Mint was established 717 BD after the Widuw's Wood Treefall, as a protection against Cdonnic Copper. The Cdonnic Mint associates themselves under Dam, the ur-Dwarf of wisdom and sight, and commonly decorate themselves in ink and paint. Their symbolic metal is natural Copper, rather than its dangerous variant.
Tincerheim only grew as techniques in forging were developed, having a plentiful amount of less valuable metals in the Faustian Peaks. They associate themselves under Shie, the ur-Dwarf of love and passion. Their symbolic metal is Brass.
The Moonlit Mines was established for some time, benefiting from the Elpan Mountains silver veins, but did not gain the same level of respect for some time due to their matriarchal society. They associate themselves under Sor, the eternally sleeping ur-Dwarf of dreams and foresight. Their symbolic metal is Silver, naturally.
The newest forge is the White Foundry, formed during the Valyean Empire's expansion, using methods of working with Cold Iron, a specialised form of iron found only in Yule's Heart. They associate themselves under Spel, the ur-Dwarf of the winds and harvest time. Their symbolic metal is Iron, more stable than their specialised variant.
Now, artisans from any of these forges are widely respected and honoured in any part of Olivia. It is worth noting that new diplomatic relations with Eleanor are showing that skilled forgers do exist in Eleanor and may bring new competition with the Dwarven Forges.
Lamércia, the union of East and West
One cannot talk about East and West Lamércia without joining their histories in some form or another. Influence from F'yore caused a number of Western Lamércia Kingdoms to form in the Early Ages; the Kingdom of Espanol, Heights, Torcia, Mercia, and Dhanning are most notable.
During the Early Ages, each Kingdom swelled in size before breaking apart and succumbing to their successors. Heights, Espanol and Mercia are the most prominent for this, growing in size and breaking apart for various reasons. One can read about the History of Mercia, Noble Families of Lamércia and their Family Trees, and Major Conflicts between Nations of the Early Ages ofLamércia, all held in the Guild of Brixton in Brye.
In Eastern Lamércia, it was a number of families that expanded and gained influence. They swapped territory and dominance amongst each other, managing their territory by militaristic means.
By about 203 BD, the Eren family managed to maintain dominance and marry within the family of Dhanning and proceeded to form a union between the smaller territories, eventually forming the United Kingdom of Lamércia.This Union would exist up until its assimilation into the Valyean Empire in 34 AD.
The Kettelese Queendom
In the southern region of Kettel, cut off from the grasslands of Lamércia, the main conflicts involving Kettel were sea bound. The great savanna of the Kettelese Steppes left it hard to establish settlements apart from those closest to the river Niluo and the coast.
The Queendom of Kettel lasted for a long time on the river Niluo, having only to deal with threats from Valyea and Aradea. The Kettelese cities have often acted almost independently of authority, with the Queendom only establishing law to these free cities.
The Queendom is the only matriarchal monarchy to have existed in Olivia, and this ties into the culture of the Kettelese believing that women are more inclined toward administration and management compared to the labor-intensive men. This and that the Kettelese have been a fairly open culture, accepting many species into its folds and thereby being a melting pot of many that would call them Kettelese.
The history of Kettel begins with the first recorded Queen, Henu Yijun of Du, who then gave birth to her successor Henu Yujun of Du, also known as Yujun the lesser, who began the efforts to solidify Kettelese rule over the coasts of Kettel. Many of the cities located across the coasts had given matriarchal leaders, known as Governors or Anchengs, and they were swayed either militarily or economically. The Du line of rulers does extend further than Henu Yijun, but there are few records that make mention of how the line is understood and one can read further in the History of Kettelese Queens and beyond the Du Line by Magus Quentus Wang, held in the College of Koutsu.
The line of successors are made of Lines of rulers, a form of succession defined by the Queen at the time, which would often be given an honorary or official name. Sometimes this came from the matriarch if they were represented a new family line, or they may change it during their reign as was the case of Henu Tai of Jie who originally was of the Jin line; these leads to Henu Tai of Jin and Henu Tai of Jie actually referring to the same ruler.
The Kettelese eventually came to occupy Aradea and suppress the Aradean reign and control over the Heracles Pass, and even the Tiwdas Pass when they occupied the eastern coast of Valyea.
The existence of the Queendom lasted until the Ketta-Valya conflict in 82 BD when the Valyean Emperor wished to reunify the Valyean peninsula and push their influence into the Espanol Gulf.
Nonetheless, during the Early Ages, Kettel was separated from mainland Olivia and only really interacted with Valyea and Aradea during its early years.
The Northern Realms
To turn our eye to the north, we must consider Yule's Heart, including the original home to the Vintafolk, the Norlands and its islands to the north, and the Faustian peninsula.
The old nation of Dwynté existed in the western region of Yule's Heart, close to the Elpan mountains. The term Dwyntian comes from this old nation's terminology, but this small nation was often succumbing to terrible winters and conflict, eventually leading to it completely disbanding some time during the Early Ages.
Meanwhile, the Vintafolk made their home in the lands to the east, mostly around the Skrivenzlat Forests where there were many woods for hunting and fishing allowing them to thrive as well as the Vintafolk do. The Vintafolk were still marginalised in the Early Ages, but more often left to their own devices as the peoples of Yule's Heart had not reached the technological or agricultural level to maintain a footing.
When Dwynté disbanded, it was the Yuletyde peoples that made their homes and settled around the Dwarven sea.
The Nortic people also enjoyed relative peace in the various islands in the Norlands, becoming strong sailors and fishers in the cold waters. The various clans that made their homes on the islands had alliances and conflicts between one another that kept themselves occupied.
Late in the Early Ages, the nation of Faust found footing in the woods and marshlands in the Faustian peninsula. The nation was mainly Nortic dwarves that had made settlements on the northern coasts. During this time, Orcs had tribes and towns in Faust that were systemically destroyed and uprooted in a time of savagery that then led to the Orcs becoming marginalised in their own way. Often called barbaric, it wasn't long until the Kingdom of Faust found use in them as military and also fieldwork.
Unfortunately, when later the Family of Eren in Eastern Lamércia campaigned and claimed the Kingdom of Faust to bend the knee, the elves were reluctant to allow the orcs their freedom and instead ripped their rights away, forcing orcs to work unpaid and in squalid conditions, painting it as better than the Faustian treatment; a reward for their liberty from the Faustian Kings. This period is filled with darkness and is discuss in depth in The Enslavement of Orcs by Magus Balin Lorenz, who takes care to discuss the issues of these acts in detail and with respect - the actions taken by the elves is regarded as disgusting in modern society and a black stain to the reputation of the Eastern elves.
Nowadays discrimination still exists against Orcs but has caused great upset as the diplomacy between Olivia and Eleanor has expanded; the Orcs of Quldafjord have taken issue with this period of history and has soured relations between Valyea and the Valyean Empire.
