+ The Renyada Adunians +

[Hanrahan 2983]

 

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T H E   R E N Y A D A

T H E   H A R R E N I T E S   O F   E D E L

 

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W R I T T E N  B Y
A. B A N I K A N

 

P U B L I S H E D  B Y  T H E
N O R T H E R N  G E O G R A P H I C A L  S O C I E T Y

 

O N  T H E
1 2 T H  O F  F I R S T   S E E D ,  2 0 6 9

 

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THE RENYADA

THE HARRENITES OF EDEL

 

"𝔗𝔥𝔢 ℭ𝔦𝔱𝔶 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔊𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔱 𝔏𝔞𝔥𝔶, 𝔞𝔱 𝔦𝔱𝔰 𝔞𝔭𝔢𝔵 𝔡𝔲𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔯𝔢𝔦𝔤𝔫 𝔬𝔣 𝔎𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔉𝔢𝔬𝔡𝔬𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔉𝔦𝔢𝔯𝔠𝔢, 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔰𝔲𝔟𝔡𝔦𝔳𝔦𝔡𝔢𝔡 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔬 𝔞 𝔪𝔲𝔩𝔱𝔦𝔱𝔲𝔡𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔮𝔲𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰, 𝔫𝔢𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔟𝔬𝔯𝔥𝔬𝔬𝔡𝔰, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔰𝔲𝔟𝔡𝔦𝔳𝔦𝔰𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰 . . . 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔦𝔣𝔱𝔥 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔩𝔞𝔰𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔤𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔱 𝔮𝔲𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔦𝔱𝔶 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴𝔫 𝔞𝔰 ℜ𝔢𝔫𝔶𝔞𝔡𝔦𝔤𝔯𝔞𝔡, 𝔬𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔢 ℭ𝔦𝔱𝔶 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 ℜ𝔢𝔫𝔶𝔞𝔡𝔞, 𝔯𝔢𝔪𝔢𝔪𝔟𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔲𝔰 𝔱𝔬𝔡𝔞𝔶 𝔰𝔦𝔪𝔭𝔩𝔶 𝔞𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 '𝔄𝔡𝔲𝔫𝔦𝔞𝔫 𝔔𝔲𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔢𝔯'.”

 

TORUGR, THE GREAT SNOW ORC
TRANSLATED INTO THE COMMON TONGUE BY DWAN GRANDAXE 

 

THE TASK OF WRITING AN ethnography is not an easy one for any author, regardless of their academic credentials. Inevitably, the reduction of an entire peoples history and character into a brief work such as this results in a rather shallow product, but it still remains the better alternative to a complete lack of memorialization. Who were the Renyada, how did they come about, why did they matter, and what happened to them? These are the questions that this paper will seek to answer in brief, and guide readers through the story of one of the Adunic peoples, from the 7th, to the 13th century. The Renyada were one of three ‘Adunic Peoples’ [Adunians] who lived in the northern portion of the continent of Aegis, called Edel. They were mainly found in the Raev Basin, but many Renyada communities were also present in Hanseti, Livonia, [and a few others places.] The story of the Renyada is tied to the fate of the Adunian Hegemony, the High Kingdom of the Adunians that ruled over much of Edel from the 1st to the 7th centuries, until its collapse in 615 MH at the hands of a coalition of Godwinite tribes and Kingdoms. 

 

To understand the Renyada, their name must be explained as it is not an Adunian word but a Raevir word. After the Adunian hegemony fell in the 7th century, the Adunians transitioned from the ruling elites of an Empire to a diasporic people on the fringes of Edelic society. The name ‘Renyada’ is a Raevir adulteration of the Adunic name the Renyada used to describe themselves: Reniadain - the Wandering folk. The story of the Renyada is further complicated by the difficulty in determining who exactly belonged to the Renyada, and when they first ‘became’ such, and when they changed sufficiently such that the name no longer was appropriate to use - these questions we shall hope to answer in the following article.

 

A MAP OF THE RAEV BASIN AS IT EXISTED IN THE 9TH CENTURY I.S.T.

 

The environment that the Adunians found themselves in in the 7th century was one of confusion, war, danger, and rapid change. After five-hundred years of rule, the Adunian Hegemony had been overthrown by the subjects it had ruled over, removing the political framework that had held Edel together in a debatable peace. The Hegemony had never pursued policies of strict centralization, preferring to rule through indirect governance, relying on a complex web of quasi-feudal contracts in which the tribal groups negotiated (or, were forced to accept) rights, boundaries, laws, obligations and dues unique to them. This arrangement permitted a certain ease for both the ruler and the ruled, reducing the administrative burden of managing the Hegemony, and permitting enough expression and local autonomy as to not provoke unnecessary resentment and rebellion. All subjects of the hegemony relied on the supreme authority of the High Kingdom to arbitrate and facilitate disputes, trade, and foreign policy. With the removal of that authority by the subjects own hands, the framework that had bound the myriad states together ceased to function, and for the first time in centuries, Chiefdoms, Petty Kingdoms, City-States, and Monastic communities found themselves free to govern themselves in totality; to pay no tributes, to levy soldiers for none other than themselves, and most significantly of all, to dictate their own foreign policy and make war upon one another. Perhaps more devastating to the North than Ulgaards Rebellion (The War so devastated Edel that archaeologists have coined the term ‘The Ulgaard Destruction Layer’) were the numerous conflicts that broke out after the completion of the coalition's war. The major victors, leaders of the coalition - the Hansetian and Raevir Kings mainly - turned on each other, and fought to secure as much territory as they could from the ruins of the old Hegemony.

 

Though the subjects of the Hegemony had allied for the sake of rebellion, these alliances  dissolved under the pressure of pragmatism and opportunism. This was further aided by the destruction of the royal libraries of Siladen, where the records, oaths, and contracts of the Hegemony had been stored for centuries. The most secure and prestigious former subjects maintained their own records, but many smaller subjects faced the irreversible destruction of their authority to rule. For some, this doomed them to swift takeover by more powerful neighbors. For others, it provided an opportunity to fabricate, or simply declare themselves sovereign and engage in conquest without cause. While Edel had been (and remains) a land of many peoples and cultures, this period is marked by a significant increase in migration and cross-cultural fusion. It is in this transitory context that the Renyada have their origins. 

 

The Adunians of the 7th century were varied, and can be categorized into four primary groups. The Calardain [Men of the Lamps], the Maewion [The Gulls], the Reniadain [The Wandering Men], and the Firenil [The Friends of Man]. The Calardain were a group of political and religious dissidents who rejected the dominance of the Hegemony over their fellow men, recusing themselves from society and operating as mendicant warriors in the wild lands of Edel. While impactful to the story of Edel and the Adunians on a social and cultural level, they would play little to no political role in the ensuing centuries. The Maewion in contrast were those who chose flight, fleeing from the Edelic mainland to the Ildician isles off the Daerean coast. Named after the gulls that accompanied their ships, they replicated in miniature their society on the island, absent their serfs and subjects. They would not return to the mainland of Aegis until the 12th century, and played little political role until then. The vast majority of Adunians could not, or would not make the journey into exile or join the ranks of the Cardolain. The Firenil are those Adunians who defected, or aided the Edelic humans in their war against the Hegemony and were thus recorded, respected, and afforded a much greater range of opportunity and inclusion in the now human-dominant society. This group was deemed ‘The Righteous Harrenites’ and made up a significant portion of the Adunian population. A strange historical sidenote is that not all Jorenites (Edelic Humans) aided in Ulgaards revolt. Despite the desperate situation of the Hegemony, many subjects remained loyal, sending supplies and soldiers to fight their human kin. The effect of this was that on occasion, certain Jorenite tribes were considered less ‘truly Edelic’ than Harrenites who had fought with the coalition. 

 

The boundary between those of the Reniadain and those of the Firenil is difficult for the historian to draw, as some of the Reniadain counted themselves as Firenil, and some did not. Most Arenic humans counted all Adunians as Renyada, with only certain persons or families bearing the title of ‘Righteous Harrenite’ or Firenil. The original Firenil were identified amongst the Jorenite Kingdoms by their banners or heraldic signifiers, Kings and Chieftains recognized those who had fought alongside them and counted them within their retinues and vassals in the traditional feudal fashion with no specially designated signifier. However, as the first generation of the ‘Righteous Harrenites’ bore a second, the matter of recognition became a pertinent issue. Those who were ‘The Righteous’ gained special privileges and exceptions to certain laws or taxes, thus making the status an object of great desire for Adunians without it. As no unified political entity existed within Edel to provide standardized record-keeping and identification, the Firenil Reniadain appealed to the early Edelic Church. Strongest in the city of Lahy, the early Church maintained The Book of Righteous Harrensons, which tracked the original recipients of the title as well as their descendants. Attempts were made to maintain the system, but by the 10th century nearly all Adunians held the status legally. This process was accelerated not only through the natural intermariage and generational growth of the Adunians, but by another means - commercialization. The buying and selling of documents attesting to connection with original Firenil was common and faced little scrutiny. It was a widespread practice that in times of financial need, Kings would sell either exemptions, or documents proclaiming the status outright; usually citing that all the Adunians were in one way or another related, and so was not a dishonest enterprise.

 

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𝕴𝖙 𝖎𝖘 𝖘𝖆𝖎𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖎𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙 𝖒𝖊𝖆𝖘𝖚𝖗𝖊, 𝖆𝖓𝖞𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖒𝖆𝖞 𝖇𝖊 𝖆 𝖇𝖆𝖓𝖊 𝖔𝖗 𝖆 𝖗𝖊𝖒𝖊𝖉𝖞

 𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖞 𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖑𝖙𝖍𝖋𝖚𝖑 𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖇𝖘 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖉𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖍𝖑𝖞 𝖐𝖎𝖓 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖗 𝖑𝖎𝖐𝖊𝖓𝖊𝖘𝖘 

𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖜𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖎𝖘 𝖌𝖔𝖔𝖉 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖘𝖔𝖒𝖊 𝖎𝖘 𝖉𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖍 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖘

𝕺𝖓𝖑𝖞 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖜𝖎𝖘𝖊 𝖒𝖆𝖞 𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖙 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖒, 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖔𝖓𝖑𝖞 𝖇𝖞 𝖌𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖙 𝖕𝖆𝖎𝖓𝖘 

𝕭𝖆𝖓𝖊 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖇𝖔𝖔𝖓 𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖔𝖓𝖑𝖞 𝖐𝖓𝖔𝖜𝖓 𝖔𝖓𝖈𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖞 𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖙𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖉

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖆𝖒𝖊 𝖎𝖘 𝖙𝖗𝖚𝖊 𝖔𝖋 𝖒𝖊𝖓

 𝕴𝖙 𝖎𝖘 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖉 𝖔𝖋 𝕺𝖜𝖞𝖓 𝖀𝖑𝖌𝖆𝖆𝖗𝖉

 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕳𝖆𝖗𝖗𝖊𝖓𝖘𝖔𝖓𝖘 𝖜𝖊 𝖈𝖆𝖘𝖙 𝖉𝖔𝖜𝖓 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖍𝖊𝖑𝖕 𝖔𝖋 𝕳𝖆𝖗𝖗𝖊𝖓𝖘𝖔𝖓𝖘 

𝕸𝖊𝖓 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖗 𝖑𝖎𝖐𝖊𝖓𝖊𝖘𝖘 𝖜𝖊𝖗𝖊 𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖗𝖊𝖒𝖊𝖉𝖞 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖗 𝖇𝖆𝖓𝖊

𝕷𝖊𝖙 𝖓𝖔𝖓𝖊 𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖌𝖊𝖙 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖗 𝖓𝖆𝖒𝖊𝖘, 𝖜𝖍𝖎𝖈𝖍 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖜𝖎𝖘𝖊 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖋𝖗𝖔𝖒 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖗 𝖐𝖎𝖓 

𝕭𝖞 𝖌𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖙 𝖕𝖆𝖎𝖓𝖘 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖜𝖎𝖘𝖊 𝖑𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖊𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖘𝖊 𝖓𝖆𝖒𝖊𝖘 

𝕽𝖊𝖒𝖊𝖒𝖇𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖊𝖔𝖚𝖘 𝕳𝖆𝖗𝖗𝖊𝖓𝖘𝖔𝖓𝖘

 

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The introductory verse of the Book of Righteous Harrensons.

 

Despite what has been described here concerning the Firenil, from the 7th to early 10th centuries, most Adunians still remained as Reniadain, soon to be known to others and themselves as Renyada. Centuries of resentment held by their former subjects ensured that the Renyada would be an unwelcome and distrusted people regardless of where they chose to live. The newfound supremacy that humanity now held over their former overlords enabled a vast number of regulations and laws intent on disenfranchising Adunians, socially, economically, and politically. While not all of the Arenic polities passed edicts and laws concerning the Adunians, most did, and most were similar in intent; restricting Adunians from holding property or land, to enlist or swear oaths as warriors and soldiers, to bear witness in court and to own slaves or serfs. These regulations varied from Kingdom to Kingdom, but the shared experience of the Renyada Adunians was to face restriction and segregation from normal life in Edel. It fell to the Renyada themselves to navigate this hostile environment, to create and build communities, to survive, and to thrive. As per their name, the first Renyada were forced into a life of semi-nomadism. Being disbarred from owning or even renting land, and having never been particularly attractive cultivators (Adunian Agriculture was exclusively done through Arenic serfs), one of the few opportunities left to them was primitive ranching and trade. The first communities were a crude mix, usually several families together herding goats, sheep, or cattle, accompanied by those with trade goods to sell to the communities they encountered on the grazing paths, or who themselves were on the road. Pursuits in ranching soon fell to subsistence levels, as trade became a much more lucrative endeavor for a rather strange set of reasons. As mentioned previously, there were a series of wars, battles, and raids that broke out between the powers major and minor in Edel after the overthrow of the Adunian hegemony. This had the effect of making travel dangerous and difficult for native Jorenites of any persuasion - depending on the year and place, a Hansetian merchant might face the prospect of plunder from Raevirs, Gaekrenis, or Eshuvuerds for their allegiance to a certain King or Chieftain - and vice versa. The solution that merchants of the hundreds of Kingdoms in Edel found was to outsource the transport of their goods to those who, regardless of the political situation, could be guaranteed safe passage - thus entered the Renyada. By the mid 600s, Renyada families were taking contracts to move goods across the North, safe from politically motivated raiding and seizure by special banners and tokens flown from their wagons. As no King - or his merchant subjects - wanted to risk their trade drying up, these traders became sacrosanct, as violating them would have had disastrous effects on the lucrative tolls and taxes generated from smooth trade - even if it was to an enemy state. 

 

The Renyada were able to utilize their segregation to work for them as best they could, ensuring a place of usefulness and security. Though originally developed on an individual, ad-hoc basis, the success of the Renyada traders soon brought about regulation to make sure that trade could be regular, reliable, and reciprocal. Complex treaties were drafted with various choice families who then passed on specific routes and contracts to their traders, and the Edelic north was soon divided up with another map, charting various Renyada clan routes and regions. An example would be of the Marsyrs, who rose to prominence in Lahy and who directed a vast amount of the trade domestically in the Kingdom. They did not hold trade charters with Hansetian Kings, who instead relied on multiple families, such as the Bragions and Pellanars, who handled trade outside Lahy coming in. This system of facilitating Edelic trade-routes would develop over the centuries, giving rise to immensely wealthy and prominent merchant families, such as the aforementioned Marsyrs, Braigions, Pellanars and Morcelars. The Renyada faced tremendous discrimination and challenge in this early period, consigned to life as wandering traders, moving across Edel in crude wagons from town to town, buying and selling as they did so. It was in this that they found their greatest reprieve, as they soon became an integral, though not necessarily appreciated aspect of Edelic life. The Renyada existed in a space of ethnic liminality, their forced alienation from the different tribes and allegiances of the Arenic polities, while definitely not one of privilege, gave them a degree of separation from the conflicts and tensions around them. 

 

Profound animosity existed between the Arenic peoples during the rule of the Adunian Hegemony, and its overthrow did not alleviate these tensions. Conflicts broke out often, and the Edel of late antiquity was a region often in a state of raiding and war. In such an environment where boundaries and relationships were drawn on a narrow set of criteria, the ability to access the services of a people who existed outside all boundaries proved tremendously valuable. The segregation of the Renyada from political power created a space for them to serve other roles with much more efficacy and neutrality than others around them; Renyada Adunians found work as merchants, bankers, scholars, artisans, and other professions that could be practiced itinerantly. Through the Renyada networks, goods of almost any kind could be obtained regardless of borders, wars, or raids. Few wanted to jeopardize trading privileges, and the Renyada traders obtained a certain level of universal protection that, in a fashion, elevated them amongst common Arenic serfs and middlemen. The first Renyada families were the descendants of those who managed to survive Ulgaard's rebellion with some modicum of wealth and cohesion intact. While their situation was dire, it was not certain to consign them to death or servitude. These families travelled throughout Edel in wagon trains, selling wares and taking on contract labour to survive. As time passed and Edel settled from the aftermath of the rebellion, such families pooled their resources to take on larger contracts or trade agreements. By the middle of the 8th century, certain Renyada families had become sufficiently successful as to run networks of trade across the whole of Edel, managing thousands of contracts and hundreds of agents. This wealth also brought another avenue of business - the Renyada were easily able to provide the Kingdoms of Edel with loans, most usually taken at war. As most Arenic law prohibited Adunians from being eligible to be legal actors, they were not permitted to sign contracts. This was sidestepped by a practice which later developed into an elaborate ceremony, wherein a King seeking a loan would petition a Renyada family for a ‘gift’ to his personal treasury, and upon conclusion of the conflict, repayment would be made in goods, rather than coin, with ‘guest’ hostages being exchanged to ensure collateral. By the 9th century, however, this tradition would fall away as Renyada increasingly became more mixed and connected with the ‘Righteous’ Harrenites, and the division between the two groups ceased to be rigidly observed or held. 

 

Legal and social discrimination produced a highly insular people, who despite the violent collapse of their political order, culture, and religion, maintained much of what they had lost through insular communities. The Renyada were able to preserve, with some alteration and compromise, much of the original Adunian culture of the Hegemonic Era. How then, did this culture manifest? Renyada typically lived in one of two manners, the first being the truly nomadic - merchants who traversed Edel in wandering bands by wagon, living their entire lives on the road and in their camps. While they could find themselves in possession of some wealth, they were often much less established and prosperous than the ironically categorized settled Renyada. These families were fixtures of the many burghs and towns of the North, managing and networking their migratory counterparts to foster trade across the region. These ‘city’ Renyada were rooted in the more affluent families of the old Hegemony, who were able to secure with wealth some privileges or status for themself, and were typically those counted among the ‘Righteous’ Harrenites. They were literate, wealthy, and patronized the creation of much of the art that comes down to us to the present day, emblematic of their culture. An example of such are the Barhador Scrolls, religious texts that are as much pieces of artwork as theological record. Painted with silver, and dyed with indigo, these scrolls were filigreed with silver as to capture the night sky, the metallic paint glittering on the night-blue pages of the highest quality vellum. Not all of the Harrenite culture sublimated into Arenic dominion. and the Renyada maintained a careful balance between embracing the language, customs, and dress of the Arenic peoples they lived with, and ensuring the preservation of symbols and aesthetics important to them. In broad terms, Arenic fashion was embraced, but customized, creating a visual fusion that allowed the Renyada to be seen and understood as distinct, but not so far apart as their ancient sires. A remarkable artefact is a 10th century 'Choka' coat, commonly worn by many Raevir peoples. This one however, was worn by a wealthy Renyada merchant, who had the inner lining embroidered with silver thread of a pattern of stars. The sleeves, traditionally uncuffed, were so in this object, of white foxfur, and the coat is of a deep blue, wheras traditional Raevir colours are red, black, yellow, or grey.

 

 

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Doctor, A. BANIKAN, AUTHOR

@Harren

 

Her Ladyship, DAME MANON YVAINE VON DISTRUGERE, SUPERVISOR
@esotericas

Dame of Arts, Lady of Deguise,
Baroness of Guise and Distrugestadt,
President of the Northern Geographical Society

 

P U B L I S H E D  U N D E R  

T H E  A U T H O R I T Y  O F  T H E  

N G S

“ A D  T E R R A S  N O V A S ”

THE VIEWS AND INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS DOCUMENT ARE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF ITS AUTHOR(S).

THE NORTHERN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY CONTENTS.

 

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[bickando 3967]

"Carrion propaganda, Edel were ruled boi tha Daelish, innit," says staunch imperialist and egoterrorist Short John 'Longsword' Potte III