Ðötamïŋ-Múýhörhat

Ðötamïŋ-Múýhörhat (literally translated as Múýhörhat's Plan) was the main system of defense employed by the Kairn Tribe. In both contemporary and historical contexts, it is treated as synonymous with the Avï-Arfarot, but semantically, they are slightly different. The Avï-Arfarot refers to the system of cities, or Avï, that were the anchors and vital components of the Ðötamïŋ-Múýhörhat, which comprised these cities in addition to the communications systems, contrbutions and actions of the guardspeople themselves, and protocols involving the entire tribe in times of serious danger.

Prelude

The Ðötamïŋ-Múýhörhat are innately tied to the Kairn Tribe's geopolitical stance, and thus a brief history of the events leading up to the Kairn Tribe's establishment is necessary.

Before the creation of the Kairn Tribe, its members made up part of the Ýlëntuk Family alongside those of their future rival, the Varhoŋïð-Khalúš. One of 12 families in the Ïlýrhonid Tribe, this Family suffered through the Ýmor-Šapariž and the Heta-Ýmor-Vëtam periods. The combination of being adjacent to the Kairn River System on the east and the Nuzowli Mountain Range on the north meant that they not only felt the tremors of every earthquake like other families, but had to suffer through floods and rockslides as well. This led to the gradual polarization of two groups: the so-called low-class were relegated to territories in the northern parts, where they were more impacted by the rampant rockslides, and the so-called high-class populated the southern parts, where they were less impacted by any and all natural disasters. Over time, the former group would become more and more sidelined by the latter, as well as the tribal authorities at large. However, the grand escalation of these disasters, especially during the second wave in 25044-25021 AYM, as well as moral and political failings like the Nüvraŋ-Ýlëntuk, caused both classes of the Family to leave en masse in mid-25020 AYM.

They would travel north by boat into the heartland of the Volain Forest, settling at the Ŋópïŋ-Arún-Khërn, or the Fork of the Kairn River, where they found life there to be substantially better than in the Ïlýrhonid Tribe. All parts of the populace collectively held the Ïlýrhonid Tribe in the wrong for keeping them confined within the Tribe for so long, and all agreed that it would be most beneficial for them to coerce other families to emigrate as well. However, the Family split over the exact method of coercion. The Kairn Tribe, made up predominantly of those from the high-class and thus still in good relations with the Tribal government, preferred to use economic methods like trade to show the Tribe the wonders of this brave new world. However, the low-class, who were so often sidelined and came to be distrusting of not just the Kairnians but the Tribal government at large, formed the tribe of Varhoŋïð-Khalúš and campaigned for the total domination of the tribe by military force. (Note that the two tribes were not formally created until after 22 Wota-Eimarae.) In the span of a few months, the gap between the two groups would widen, with the Khalúšians gathered to the west of the River and the Kairnians to the east. In 22 Wota-Eimarae, the Ambush of Ŋópïŋ-Arún-Khërn occurred, in which a planned Khalúšian raid was thwarted and scattered by Kairnians, and the surviving Khalúšians were ousted and chased westwards out of the Forest. From then on, the Kairnians took on the role of the Ïlýrhonids' main protectors, which included the creation of the Pact of Kairn between the two tribes, the establishment of widespread trading and communication systems, and, most prominently, the creation of a massive defensive system to guard the Volain Forest in precise detail. This latter one would be the crux of the Ðötamïŋ-Múýhörhat.

History

Establishment

The Ðötamïŋ-Múýhörhat were created in the first few weeks of the year 25019 AYM as one of the formative actions of the newly-established Kairn Tribe and the first Hyvamto-Rkhërn, the dual rulers of Múýhörhat and Löðkúlhöð. Immediately following the Ambush of Ŋópïŋ-Arún-Khërn and the chasing of the Khalúšians out of the Forest, there were substantial portions of the Kairn Tribe now situated at the western edge of the Forest, away from their previous settlements at the fork. Instead of returning, they settled near that western edge, forming rudimentary shelters and small-scale shelters all along this edge in a collective effort to repulse any subsequent assaults by the Khalúšians. Recognizing the importance of these positions, Múýhörhat established the city of Gavórš-Avï on the site of the abandoned Khalúšian settlements, and constructed several roads that connected Gavórš-Avï to these outer cities. These roads led to the population in these outer settlements dramatically increase, and by mid-25019 AYM, records indicate that this western edge had repelled over 20 separate assaults.

Noting the severity of the situation, Múýhörhat furthered his ambitions by enforcing the construction of settlements all across the Volain Forest. This inovled the spreading-out of the entire populace to cover a total area whose area was nearly forty times that of the Khalúšians' thin sliver. In particular, the Kairn River System separated the entire Forest into three distinct sections. In the east, sparsely-populated towns sprung up and were connected to the large cities of Ïpïlš-Avï and Brüum-Avï; together with Gavorš-Avï, these were the center of the Kairn Tribe and the jugular of the Ðötamïŋ-Múýhörhat through their roles as depots, storage units, and communication pathways. In the north, however, this segment was heavily disconnected from the rest of the Forest, as the Kairn RIver System was at its widest in the streams that bound it. There were only two main crossings of the River that one could use to reach this northern part. Although communications and supply systems were attempted at the two cities closest to these crossings, namely Gašïl-Avï and Hraðóm-Avï, they both proved too hard and clumsy to manage. Due to their seclusion, the inhabitants of this northern part, called the Khërn-Švere, were largely left to their own for the entire history of the Kairn Tribe. Most historians generally do not consider them part of the Ðötamïŋ-Múýhörhat.

Communications Systems

After the sufficient formation of the Avï-Arfarot system, Múýhörhat would establish his headquarters in the center city, that being Brüum-Avï. In the next month, he would create a new communication system that involved the carving of symbols on small logs, sticks, and other wooden artifacts of the Forest. These sticks, called Yoži-Volën, constitute the branches and roots of the trees, and given their relatively small surface area, Múýhörhat had to invent a corresponding shorthand system to properly accomodate his messages and decrees. Once written, a chosen servant would be sent out into the Forest to hand-deliver the message to the recipients. For decrees that were to reach all corners of the tribe, upwards of 20 such servants would be sent at once. Given the sheer depth of the Forest, messages often took durations ranging from 2 days to a week.

These would form the crux of the Ðötamïŋ-Múýhörhat, as it formally linked the people to the ruler and reinforced the overall mission of the tribe. In successive years, with the budding trust of the Kairn people in the ruler, and that trust reciprocated in turn, Múýhörhat and his successors would not implement additional measures to ensure the enforcement of his decrees.

The rulers also encouraged messages to be sent from the people, both to the ruler himself and to others in other guard cities. In this fashion, the three cities of Gavórš-Avï, Brüum-Avï, and Ïpïlš-Avï became mail carriers and sorters. The exact confidentiality of the messages is disputed, but even with this supposed lack of security, this message system was transporting at least 5,000 messages a day at its peak. Surviving messages, deposited (sometimes buried) at their abandoned destinations, show a deep longing for a more communal environment, with friendships developing across cities on the eastern and western sides of the tribe.