Old Adunia

[Hammely 11]

Old Adunia

*As you are walking through a library, a book catches your eye. It sits slightly out of order and you can faintly see leaf prints on the leather-bound cover. Intrigued, you pick up the book off the shelf. The title reads ‘The Adunian Chronicles’*

 

*You thumb through the book until you land upon a chapter named ‘Old Adunia’*

 

The history of Adunia is racked with pain and suffering, but no more pain is there than in the story of Old Adunia. Scholars often debate the facts surrounding the age, as not much evidence remains of the era. Many fact, however are unanimously accepted as true, and such veritable facts are those of which I will speak in this section of the Chronicles.

    One fact irrefutable is that the Adunians were in the Golden Age in Old Adunia. The Adunians controlled a marginal amount of the Human holdings and had near complete power over the populace. Adunians flourished in this period, most became rich by the ends of their lives. Alas, when King Godwyn came to the throne, the Adunians were banished, exiled. Many Adunians went into the sanctuary of other humans, hiding within the empire. These Adunians were named the Lowlanders, and were the most affected by the cultural changes of the exile. Many lowland Adunians no longer carry accents, and observer more Orener customs than other Adunians. The second group of Adunians went to exile in the mountains and secluded spaces of the land. These men were known as the Higlanders, as they more often than not were found in the mountainous or hilly areas. These Adunians were less affected by the new Orener culture, though they took on new traits that fit their rugged lifestyle. The last group of Adunian exiles is made up of Islanders, or Farlanders. Many wealthy families at the time of the exile purchased large ships to carry their families along with friends to places of distant origins, uncharted islands and hidden forests to wait out the exile. These rare specimens are the closest thing to Old Adunians that one can see in this day and age, as they were culturally isolated. These men and women bring us many of our facts that we now possess of Old Adunia.

    We will begin by analysing the differences in Old Adunian and the current Adunian language. Let’s look at the translations of the word kingdom, to begin. In Old Adunian the word is Rice, while in New Adunian it is Riocht. It hsould be noted that æ’s are much more prevalent in Old Adunian names as well words, for example, the word “hæwen” meaning blue, in Old Adunian. And interesting dilemma to the analysis of New and Old Adunians is that the accents of Higlanders and Islanders appear ot be very similar if not identical. Careful readers may note that Old Adunian has many similarities to Orener, or the common tongue. This is mainly because some words, such as “hafoc” (hawk) are taken from the Old Adunian language due to the proliferance of the speech in the Old Days.

    Another matter of fact is the one of dressing preference. Adunians of old were wont to wear capes that came over the right shoulder and had a designed border on the edge of the cloak. The most widely accepted reason for this change in High and Lowlanders is that Lowlanders would look far too conspicuous in the cape, and Highlanders most likely found it cumbersome and unwieldy in dense foliage and it gave more disadvantages than benefits. The Islanders and Farlanders, however found much use for the capes in their temporary homes, and as such have retained the fashion of a shoulder cape held generally by a bronze clasp. While, a weapon does not strictly count as clothing, the reader should note that Sæx’s were worn by males of a clan at all times as some clans still do this day. The last change of apparel was in womens’ dress, as in Old Adunia women would wear dresses of strictly the dominant color of their clan, and perhaps a trim of the secondary color, whereas now, the women of Adunia often wear the tartans of their clan in a dress.