Perhaps not "History" yet still.
I was bored, and after having played this Mod, "EATRC" (Which is awesome I might add) I decided to write some fan-fic for the Hälmar Union, of which I'm a great fan. I hope you guys enjoy it and find it useful, and if there is any typos/errors with it (Such as things not agreeing with the general "lore" of EATRC, please note and I'll add it. If you have suggestions of your own you wish to add/change, just say, and we'll see what we can do. Enjoy!
The Hälmar Union
The Hälmar Union is, as its name suggests, a union compromised of several different people, kingdoms etc. The union was created by the Skanian, who through conquest and diplomacy brought several lesser kingdoms, people etc. under a single banner. It is, however, still a “monarchy”. The royal family hails from the Skanian, as they are the creators of the union. However, the Kings council is rather large and contains delegates and advisors from all the people belonging to the union. Each “country” belonging to the Hälmar Union has its own “King”, out of tradition (The term king is used rather loosley here, as the Kings of each people is more of a symbol than anything else as they barely hold any nomial power. Rather, they act as an executor of the royal family in their respective country). The strength of the Hälmar Union is its multitude. Individually, each people/kingdom is rather weak, but united under the same banner, they are a force to be reckoned with.
The purpose of this article is to shed some light on the different cultures and people which are included in the Hälmar Union. The article will shed some light on the economic, cultural and military aspect of each of the cultures that together make up the Hälmar Union, aswell as what they’re lands are called.
The Skanian (sing. Skane, plur. Skanian) Land called; Skania
The Skanian live to the north, near the capital of the union, Hälmar, and its surrounding lands, aswell as the islands in the Obello sea.
The Skanian are the founders of the Hälmar Union, and it is from this people that the current regent of the Hälmar Union, Iohann IV , hails from. Compromising much of the higher echelons of society and the majority of the nobility, the Skanian are often found as councilmen, diplomats, bureaucrats, admirals, officers and so forth.
As a people the Skanian are very collective and group-oriented. This is evident when descisions are being made, as the Skanian most often wish that everyone affected by the outcome of the descision is aware of it and fully supports it. This can lead to other people finding their descision making slow and cumbersome, but it often avoids conflict in their own society, and once a descision has been made, the Skanian sticks with it.
The average Skanian is also law-abiding and has a deep respect for authority. Skanian soldiers are known to execute their commanders command without hesitating and never to give quarters or retreat unless ordered to. There are tales of Skanian regiments loosing all their officers, keeping on fighting without surrendring, simply beacuse there has been given no order of surrender.
The Skanian place alot of emphasis on the family and collectivity of it. A Skanian family can be rather large and usually consists of 2 parents, which are the “core” of the family. Under their roof lives their children, their parents and their household (Which is a part of the “family”). Proof of this is found in the Skanian practice of the “family bedroom”, a room in which all of the family sleeps, except for the household, which recieves a lodge of their own.
It is not uncommon for a Skanian family to adopt orphans that belongs to the parents siblings, raising them as their own.
The Skanian are renowned for their social structure of the “Torp” (sing. Torp, plur. Torps) The torp is usually a rather large-sized farm awarded to Skanian citizens for military service. The inhabitats of the torp is called “Fribonde” (Free-peasant). The household of the family of the “Fribonde” are “slaves”, servants and their families, usually called “Träelar”. A torp can be likened with a smaller village, since the Skanian family is usually rather large, and the habit of siblings to live close to each others, almost in a “clan”-like fashion, surrounded by fields, hunting grounds, fishing grounds or similar. A torp usually has its own blacksmith, doctor, stable etc. In the middle of each torp a church is located. Each male member of a torp between the age 16-50 are eligeble for military service, and expected to serve if called upon. Each torp must also tax a certain ammount of its products to the läen (Explained below), be it wheat, horseshoes or lumber.
The torp is in turn included into a larger “Läen”, a rather large geographical area, consisting of many torps.. Each läen is ruled by an appointed governor, most often one of nobility whos family have ruled the läen for several generations, whos task is to collect taxes, uphold the law etc. The seat of power in each läen is the “Mittborg” (eng. lit. Middle-castle, or rather, “Castle in the middle”. Sing. “Mittborg”, Plur. “Mittborgar”). The Mittborg is a rather heavily fortified castle with a connected large town, “Mittstad” (eng. lit. Middle-city, or rather, “City in the middle”. Sing. “Mittstad”, plur. “Mittstader”) . This makes up the urbanized area of each läen. Inside the Mittborg is a taxcollectors office whichs task is to keep track of the population, taxes, accounts etc. of each läen. The Mittborg/Mittstad is the cultural and urban center of each läen, and it is here you can find the more modern commodities such as theatres, inns, smiths, workshops and markets. Most The Mittborg/Mittstad is, despite its name, not necessarily located in the middle of a läen. Since the Mittborg is usually based on castles that existed long before the creation of the Hälmar Union, they are often found on strategic locations, such as high hills, mountains, near rivers etc. Each läen is based around a Mittborg, and not the opposite.
Each month an envoy from each torp is expected to gather at the Mittborg in the läen they belong to to pay taxes and solve any disputes that might have arisen during the month. Usually this envoy consists of the “Ruling family” of each torp.
The torp-läen structure first appeared when King Gustavus II reformed much of the Skanian social structure, known as the “Jordereform” (eng. “Earth-reform”), in the Skanian tounge. to centralize the power to the Mittborg/Mittstad making it easier to organize the kingdom and levy taxes and soldiers.
The larger cities of the Skanians are often located near rivers or the ocean and are more “globalized” than the rest of the Skanian “inland society”, which can seem a little more unmodern and “alien” to travellers. Hälmar itself, for example, has many foreign influences, most from Lauria, Swadia and a few from the Tsardom of Vaegirs.
The Skanian are known for their high-quality iron and the large forests that covers their lands provide them with an abundance of high-quality timber, enabling them to construct sturdy warships. Several copper- and silvermines in the northern lands of the Skanian are also important to the economy of the Skanians.
The soldiers of Skania are, as previously mentioned, known for their iron-discipline and their authoritarian leadership. The advantages of these traits are obvious, but the disadvantage is that they can appear very rigid and unflexible on the battlefield. Withouth officers or commanders presents, the Skanian soldiers are like a rock. They wont budge, but then again, they wont move. As such, they are known to have well-educated and trained officers and above, who are trained and taught the art of war in certain War-Acadamies, found in the larger cities of Skania. Their warfare is modern and imitates that of the Laurian and the Swadian. They are renowned for their Skitroopers. Able to move quickly through the northern snowlaid lands of Skania, these lightly armored, fast troops are equipped with long-range rifles they wield with deadly accuracy. Another unique soldier from the lands of Skania are the “Grenadiers”, wielding iron-grenades. At first, the grenade was used as mining-tool in northern Skania by miners, but Skanian officers soon found a new use for it. (Grenades “can” be implemented in M&B, with mixed results. It has been in other mods. Thinking this could make the Hälmar Union more “unique” instead of a clone of other factions).
The Daeger (sing. Daeg, plur. Daeger) Land called; Daegermark
Sveavald and the territories north of it belongs to the Daeger.
The Daeger are very similar to the Skanian in appearance and mentality with some exceptions. Occupying coastal territories that borders the Calradian mainland the Daeger have always had strong trade connections with the Calradian mainland. Relations with the Swadian have always been strong and much of the Daeger culture, architecture etc. is inspired and influenced by the Swadian Empire.
The Daeger posses much of the more fertile soil in the Hälmar Union and alot of their lands are flat and ideal for farming or cattlebreeding. As such they are often considered the “peasants” of the Hälmar Union. However, it is with great pride that they feed large portions of the union. The Daeger have adopted the Skanian torp/läen-structure. However, whilst the Skanian are rather free about which profession you can pursue, the Daeger are more guild-oriented. In Skania, anyone can become a blacksmith, a trader or an inn-keeper. However, in Daegermark, one is born into a “guild”, the one ones father belong to, and forced to take up the profession of the guild one is born into. So a blacksmith can not become a tailor, but must become a blacksmith, and a farmers son must become a farmer.
The main difference between the Daeger and the Skanian are that the Daeger are often considered more “civilized” and “globalized” as a whole than the Skanian. The main factor for this is that most of the “ruling-class” in the lands of the Daeger are immigrants from Swadia. Wealthy merchants from Swadia were the first to create a unified kingdom in Daegermark, and the nobility of Daegermark is a network of rich Swadian families (Once Swadian, they are “Daeger” now, but they still consider themself different and more priviligied than the “common Daeger”.) that has created a social class of Swadian customs and habits that are very much isolated from the common Daeger society. This leads to a great gap in Daeger society that can lead to tensions between the ruling class and the commoners.
The Finni (sing. Finn, plur. Finni) Land called; Finnia
The Finni are perhaps the least ”civilized” of people of the Hälmar Union. They are nomads at heart and inhabit the lands south of “Öreborg”, the cold tundras bordering the territories of the Vaegir Tsardom.
Their social structure is tribal, each tribe consisting of a chieftain. Since they are nomads they rarely settle on one spot for longer periods of time. As such they have no agriculture or any other industry, even less a structured society able to pay taxes. This makes them, perhaps, the least contributing people of the Hälmar Union. However, they are widely used as soldiers, mainly cavalry, in the Hälmar Unions armies. And, they function as a shield against the Vaegir Tsardom. The Hälmar Union has made an agreement with the Finni tribes that constitues that they will not meddle in their clan-politics or ways of life, and that the lands south of Öreborg is theirs to do what they wish with, as long as they safeguard the tundras and make sure no Vaegirs cross them, aswell as provide soldiers to the Hälmar Union. One famous tribes of the Finni are the “Hackapells”, known for their savagery.
Often serving as cavalry, scouts and vanguards in the Hälmar Unions army, they are often lightly equipped, wearing nomadic armor (Not “asian”, think more furs etc.) and wielding light sabers, spears, bows, guns and shields and fighting as an irregular cavalryforce. However, there are a few companies of cavalry in the Hälmar Union army that consists of cavalrymen from the Finni, but trained and equipped in a more modern fashion, with designated officers, tactics, roles etc. These are often compromised of Finni who have been sent to train in more “civilized” military institutions of the Hälmar Union. Roles they might fulfill might be “Lancers”, “Cuirassiers”, “Dragoons”, “Hussars” etc. Usually, cavalry units like these, consisting entirely of Finni, are very prestigious and looked up to by other more regular cavalry units, and it is with great pride that the Finni serve in these companies.
The cavalrycompany known as the “Konungsfinner” (eng. “King-Finni”, lit. “The Kings Finni”) are the most prestigious of all the Finni cavalry companies and serves as the king of the Hälmar Unions personal bodyguard.
The Norrbor ( sing. Norrbo, plur. Norrbor) Land called;
The Norrbor lives to the north of the Skanian, and are a hardy people adapted to icy colds of the north. Liveby is their southernmost province.
Being the original Nords, they are a proud, hearthy, ale-drinking warrior-people. In general, their social structure is the same as that of the Skanian, the main difference being that they live more on hunting and fishing than on farming. As the Daeger, their upper-class consists not mainly of Norrbor, but rather Skanians, who subjugated them several decades ago and made themself masters of them.
The Norrbor have always had a strong connection to the sea, and they are experienced sailors and shipbuilders and as such, they can be found in large numbers on almost any ship belonging to the Hälmar Union, most of which they have constructed themselves.