Daphnea

"You Chione, are a woman of importance and splendor, due to your origins alone. You are the very definition of beautiful, for all of your descendants share the greatest beauty; you are the emerald seas, the purple skies; you are the golden fields of Hekuba, and the snow-capped mountains of the north; you are the daughter of magic, the mistress of painted stars, the product of a thousand before you, the creator of a thousand after you; you are a child of Daphne." - From the Pisistraton

  The Daphnea were a high elven people who historically occupied the Sunlit Isles.

---

Origins

"Let the Eripe know that they shall always have our hand, be it in peace or battle, at our greatest triumph or our darkest hour." - Democles Daphne, known at the time as Xecot Chabam

  Originally, the Daphnea came from the southern jungles of Tritan, a massive continent far east of Beurum. There, they were known as the Chipahau. At the time, they lived medium-sized settlements built around the region's giant trees, and frequently engaged in tribal warfare with each other.   The Chipahau united when the First Kantaran Empire, seeking to expand their lands, moved southwards and began a violent conquest of the jungle. Though the tribes of the Chiapahau were able to unite and put up a fearsome resistance, they were ultimately unable to stop their lands from being conquered. While some of the Chipahau elected to move elsewhere in Tritan, or simply accept Kantaran rule, the majority of them decided to move out to sea. Several expeditions by the Kantarans had rendered eastern lands in Beurum ripe for colonization, but they wanted to control Beurum before venturing to other continents. As a final act of rebellion against the Kantarans, the much of the Chipahau, under the charismatic leader Xecot Chabam, decided to make their new home in these very lands.   During the voyage to the "New World," as some of the Chipahau referred to it, around the year 5385, the Daphnea were heavily assisted by the Eripe. The Eripe at that time had largely settled in mainland Beurum, but still frequented the sea and proved instrumental in Daphnea navigation. In one famous story, the Chipahau ship Ketmol Ajak, ("Pride of the Mountain") was lost during a storm, presumably killing a large amount of Chipahau leaders, including Xecot Chabam. While much of the fleet fell into chaos, six Eripean trimarans jumped into action and managed to rescue nearly all of the ship's crew from dying. Hours after being rescued, Xecot Chabam declared all Eripeans to be their eternal friends, beginning a good relationship between the two peoples that would last a long time.

Establishment and Divine Consolidation

"Following his divine declaration, Democles Daphne, with a movement of his hand, made the island of Hekuba a fertile garden for all to enjoy." - From the Senoma Accounts

  Upon arriving in Beurum, the Chipahau located the Sunlit Isles and began the building of Senoma, their greatest and oldest city. Though the area in which they settled was arid and rocky, the Chipahau lauded the natural beauty of the place and traded many of their sailing vessels to the Eripe in exchange for wood from the Everglade Wastes. Xecot Chabam, loved by nearly all of his subjects, continued to rule and oversee his people, and declared himself the Father of all Chipahau.   Sometime after this declaration, Chabam, on a voyage to explore what was around Senoma, experienced a mystical encounter with the beautiful sea goddess Daphne. Daphne told Chabam that she had once been a goddess of the Sentirians, a people who had formerly occupied the Sunlit Isles. According to her, the Sentirians were powerful magic users, but had dared to claim themselves greater than their pantheon. They ventured into the Mountains of Agamedes and summoned the Minotaurs of Fermeus, a long dormant race of monsters that had the power to rob gods of their immortality and destroy them. In the following War of the Islands, as it was called, only Daphne survived. She did this by using her powers as a harvest goddess to infest all of the Sentirians' crops, and then absorb their power upon death to confine the Minotaurs of Fermeus to eternal sleep. Daphne offered Chabam the chance to become a god should he pledge his people's loyalty to her.   Chabam accepted. Though the Daphnea insisted that he did this of his own accord, many cultural outsiders who otherwise believed this story thought that he must have been enchanted by Daphne to agree. Either way, Chabam changed his name to Democles of Daphne, in honor of a priest who had once been her greatest servant. Daphne soon admitted that she had fallen in love with Democles, and produced several divine children with him, beginning the extensive Daphnean pantheon.   Democles returned to Senoma and told his people the news. He declared that they would now call themselves the Daphnea, and adopt much of the customs that the Sentirians had once held. Though met with a healthy amount of skepticism, Democles was as charismatic as he had always been, and the settlement process had been going well, prompting many of them to pledge their allegiance immediately. Upon this initial pledge, Democles used his new godly powers to transform a nearby island, Hekuba, from a barren rock to a fertile landmass covered with wheatfields and grapevines.

Cultural Split

"Redoran exists only so that we may lay waste to it. Onwards!" - Haxes, a Neo-Chipahau leader, addressing his soldiers.

  Though the Transformation of Hekuba prompted almost all of the Daphnea to obey the desires of Democles and the goddess Daphne, some refused, seeing the reforms as an unwelcome corruption of ancient Chipahau tradition. They moved away from Senoma into the Everglade Wastes, a land that somewhat resembled their ancient jungle home, and referred to themselves as the Neo-Chipahau. Though Democles sought to stop the Neo-Chipahau, Daphne stopped him, prophecizing that these rebels would construct their own doom. This prophecy largely proved to be true, as the Neo-Chipahau soon formed themselves into violent tribes that frequently caught Eripean peoples in the crossfire, despite their best efforts. The Eripeans, having had enough of this, were able to force the Neo-Chipahau to the southern tip of the Everglade Wastes. Backed into a corner and desperate to show strength, the elves stole a number of the ships that they had once sailed on to Beurum, which now belonged to the Eripe, and in 5398 sailed to the Trebai city of Redoran.   In an attack that caught the Trebai off guard, the Neo-Chipahau were able to sack the city almost completely. Eager to show off their strength, they set up an autocratic government. This government lasted a little less than a year, during which time the city's inhabitants faced violence, famine, and general chaos. They were easily defeated in 5399 by united Trebai forces, and largely destroyed; though some of the Neo-Chipahau were said to have fled to join the Arqu of the Old Elvish Mountains, the Daphnean offshoot came to a complete end.

Development into a Continental Power

"Those elves claim to be the best that there is, then turn around and drown one of their "servants" for spilling some wine." - Finwrick Panzin

  The High Kingdom of Beurum, which formed shortly after the sacking of Redoran, punished the Daphnea, seeing them as no different from the Neo-Chipahau. They shunned them and declared that they were not allowed to expand to outside of the Sunlit Isles. This generally did not bother the Daphnea, who were building a number of cities in their region and had set up a large trade network with the Eripe. Moreover, after around two hundred years, this punishment was barely enforced, allowing the Daphnea to gradually expand their trading networks across the Vagabond's Sea.   Each city of the Daphnea developed into their own state, and minor wars over trading disputes were relatively frequent. For much of the Second Era, however, the Daphnea were able to maintain and grow their trading network both at home and with foreign peoples. The governments of Daphnean cities were usually ruled by royal families, noble oligarchies, or councils elected by landowners.   A significant portion of the Daphnean economy was built on slavery, primarily of Arqu wood elves and half-elves. Though not legal in all city-states at all times, slavery was a major institution among the Daphnea during the Second Era nonetheless. An entire industry was built around the pillaging of Arqu settlements and the siezing of their inhabitants. Defenders of slavery argued that slaves could eventually work to gain their freedom, but the practice was met with immense disgust by most of those who knew about it.   Democles and Daphne's descendants claimed their own domains and established themselves as local deities, often of a very particular domain. Near the end of the Second Era, the number of these descendants had grown to a vast size, since none of these individuals, of course, ever died. The number of these gods grew so large that a small amount of Eripeans, Rowen, and even a few Trebai chose to worship Daphnean gods (a practice considered highly scandalous in the latter culture). In 6023, Democles and Daphne declared that the production of any more of their descendants was forbidden, as there were enough of them already. As a result, lesser Daphnean gods often entered into relationships with mortals, creating a number of mortal individuals with varying degrees of divine powers. These individuals occupied a wide set of roles, from civic and merchant leaders to hated sorcerers and teachers of magic.

Fall and Rise During the Third Era

"Be proud today, citizens! Let the Kantarans hear us shout and brag. We will never submit to their rule!" - Anteira of Kallimonia, speaking shortly after the retaking of her home city.

  Though the Daphnea were largely uninvolved in the Crisis of Akathon and the First Dwarvish War, save for some trading activity, they were among the hardest hit by the invasion of the Third Kantaran Empire in 6505. Not only was their location the prime landing spot for the Kantarans, but the empire also sought revenge for their exodus into the Sunlit Isles back in the First Era. Within the first year of the invasion, the Daphnea, not a people used to uniting to fight for their freedom, were subdued and enslaved by the Kantarans, who went on to conquer other major peoples such as the Rowen and the Trebai.   For the next three centuries, the Daphnea experienced yet another cultural split. While some of them accepted Kantaran rule after a few years, citing the relative freedom they were given, others were enraged at having their self-rule taken from them by a people they had once successfully escaped. Along with much of the rest of Beurum, the time period was a series of non-continuous wars and revolts against the Kantarans.   The Daphnea were able to regain complete control of one of their cities, Kallimonia, by around two hundred years into the period of occupation. During the last century of the Third Era, they pressed the Kantarans further, confining them only to Senoma, and then pushing them out of the Sunlit Isles entirely. After the Kantarans were pushed away from their final holdouts in the Everglade Wastes and the Western Commons, the Daphnea initiated the famous sacking of Kantaran cities on Tritan, in which leaders of all of Beurum's major peoples got their revenge on the empire.  

Rebirth and Dominance over Beurum

"Once we were proud of statues that touched the sky. Now, we are proud of magical machines that lay waste to people we don't even know. What has happened to us?" - Chela the Elder

  Following this retribution and the return of Daphnean leaders, the Daphnea engaged in a fifteen-year long period of instability before resettling into their old city-states. During the next few hundred years, certain major changes occurred as the Daphnea rebuilt their trading network. Among these was the abolition of slavery; centuries of suppression under the Kantarans gave the Daphnea a taste of their own medicine, in a sense, and former Daphnea slaves had worked with their owners to drive out their Imperial rulers. Slavery was no longer socially acceptable, and by the end of the Fourth Era was barely practiced, though illegal slave-trading rings did exist.   Another change was the introduction of democracy in most Daphnea city-states. As with slavery, Kantaran rule had soured the people's opinion to authoritative, centralized rulers. During the first few centuries of the Fourth Era, the governments of most Daphnean city-states gained at least some democratic representation, with Ampholemy embracing the democratic system entirely. Ampholemy and a few other smaller Daphnean settlements left nearly every governmental decision to the people, which ensured representation, but sometimes made for tedious decision processes. In the worst cases, these city-states were prone to the installation of an authoritarian following frustration with the democratic process.   For most Daphnean city-states, however, the Fourth Era's decentralization of power was a period of stability. More significantly for the rest of Beurum, the trading networks of the Sunlit Isles began a shift of ownership from governments to private citizens as a result of increased less powerful central governments. A number of corporations arose, including Andromeda Corporation, Phylos Shipping Solutions, and most significantly, the Sunlit Isles Trading Company (SITC). These companies were most active in areas of conflict around Beurum, where they would step in and establish control after local trading systems broke down. By the end of the Fourth Era, SITC almost completely controlled every Daphnean city-state.   Corporations such as SITC were widely regarded to have played a major role in the starting of the Twenty-Year War, and were infamous after the Fifth Era for this reason. Though most individuals had little proof of nefarious activities, it was widely believed after the Fifth Era that SITC and its subsidiaries had deliberately raised tensions between the High Kingdom of Beurum and the kingdoms of the Makovai and the Sverden. Furthermore, it was rumored that SITC played a large part in the creation of the Trebai Ascendancy and continued to have a significant role in its government after the war. For these reasons, the Daphnea as a whole gained a negative reputation among individuals across Beurum in the early years of the Fifth Era. Nevertheless, large-scale dependence on Daphnea companies made revolt against them a difficult task, outside of the formation of black market guilds that attempted to rival them.