Wolsan

Wolsan: The Wolsan were the primitive people who populated the Marchlands before the Empire. They were of the same racial stock as the Cetvel people, dark hair, olive skin and stocky body build. Indeed, they had much in common with their neighbors, even their religion was   a slightly more polytheistic version of the sun worship that the Cetvel people reveled in. They ruled a polyglot confederation of tribes and cities from the cold river Anwaith down the arcing coast to the fertile plains of one-day Highworth. They built countless shrines and monolithic structures, some of them gigantic and complex.

They remained a fairly primitive dis0united people however and the Empire, when it becgan it’s early expansion quickly crushed the Wolsan. Several attempts were made throughout the centuries to revolt but all were quashed and soon the culture died out under intense Imperial pressure and the general devastation of the area. Few in the area now remember anything of the old Imperial days.

Religion: The religious system was actually quite advanced. Basically it saw the Sun as the font of all blessings on Earth (and the Sun was a benevolent spirit). It moved the wind, thawed the water, made fire (the Wolsan believed all fire was a distant offshoot of the Sun) and even changed the season. Each season change had extreme religious significance. To celebrate these season changes (and other events) massive structures were erected all throughout the area. Most of them were massive rings of stones although a few were open circled walls. Here, elaborate rites were carried out in accordance with the passing season. Most of them were ritualized re-tellings of religious stories and myths.

Most of these places became keystones in the fight against the Empire so nearly all of them were destroyed or at least defaced. Very few remained in the post-Imperial days and only the most remote dales and highland vales retained these majestic stones and the deep memories they held.

Culture:   The Wolsan’s pre-Imperial contact culture is very hard to uncover. It seemed that it was generally focused on the attirbutes of the mind more then those of physical technology. Chatns, songs and a fairly complex written lanauge (all but extinushed by the Empire) hint at a metaphysical world of depth and observation. Women were held nearly in equal postions of men, and several of the eailerst traced back lineages begin with famous female leaders.

However, after the first Imperial contact (and subsequent war) the culture was turned inside out. It became a society shattered and geared towards violence. Women, since they were less adept at war, were quickly sidelined and became little more then property. The culture was smashed and twisted as cities and towns burned, thrones uprooted and chieftains slain on sacred altars. Most of the old songs and chants were forgotten in the desperate race to survive. While the Wolsan won a few minor victories, they were overrun in only a few short decades.

Much of the information about customs, clothes even food have been annihilated by the Empire, time and simple apathy. Even in the most remote areas people speak a Cetvel speech, eat Cetvel food and generally worship the same way they did in the major cities.



War: War had not been uncommon before the Imperial conquest. Indeed, between the various tribes and groups, low level violence was quite common. Rites of passage often included going into battle and capturing others. Most of these battles ‘however’ were small scale and focused on kidnapping then death. Hunting was still the background for war and as such, as low level, intermittent and haphazard. The bow and arrow was the weapon of choice for the Wolsan, with many of them being masters of the weapon. Armor was fairly unusual, and   it was cloth was most common.

After Imperial conflict war changed drastically. Armor became common, and new chieftains rallied larger armies then ever. Slavery (which had been a minor aspect of Wolsan society until this point) became a huge part of society. Slave soldiers became the base unit in the Wolsan armies as they attempted to fight off bigger, better armed and better supplied Cetvel armies. Everything was thrown into the attempt to fight back, and even the most sacred shrines were often used as fortresses and siegepoints.



Imperial Domination:   As a fertile, sparesly populated area the entire Wolsan region was quickly appended to Empire. It should be noted that the conquest of the Wolsan region took place just after the bloody invasion of the High Vale and the generally upposoed sweep into Highworth. This gave the Cetvel people a general taste of conquest and a large well-trained army that could be ruthless. The armies took 50 uears to conquer the gigantic region, re-naming it the March Lands due to the distance and constant hit and run violence by the native Wolsan.

After conquest a series of brutal govenors took over the area, often buring out traditional shrines and gathering places. This, combinded with an influx of Cetvel settlers pushed the natives under poltical and economic domination. As the centuires past, the Wolsan dwindled or assimilated. Two great uprisings occuered but both were curshed ruthlessly by a strong Empire. 300 years before this game a series of large High Vale raids destroyed the last of the upland Wolsan communities, and finished off the last few remaining threads of the community.