Blazennian

The Blazennian people represent by far most prominent culture in Blazennia, and therefore the Blazennian Empire. Their population, while concentrated in Blazennia itself, does have settlements in Dennonia, and to a lesser extent Fremedhia. The Blazennians are considered the highest level of human civilization on Telgren, largely thanks to Imperial power and prestige. Having popularized the concepts of chivalry, feudalism, and interracial cooperation in South Telgren, they are often looked towards as examples for states seeking to modernize. Physically, Blazennians are generally lighter in skin tone with dark hair and eyes.

The Blazennian culture got its start during the Last Days of Oleandron, when they were known as the Northmen. In 762 S.C., a huge amount of Northmen began crossing the frontiers of Oleandron from the north, in an event that became known as the Northsfall. By 770 S.C. these Northmen had settled in Blazennia, then known as Cycladiand, displacing the region's population and essentially severing the Empire of Oleandron in half. This event would be the catalyst for Oleandron to spiral out of control and end up destroyed within a hundred years. The Northmen who settled the region ended up intermarrying with the remaining human population and forming a unique identity, and eventually came to be known as the Blazennians, though this would take many years of regional development and tribal mingling. The first documented use of the term is in an 1100 S.C. treaty between the nation of Fluencia and the Kingdom of Fraspika. At this point, the Blazennians were not centralized states, but could not truly be called tribes anymore, as they began establishing limited bureacracy and national identities. Over the next century, a number of Blazennians would be slowly be conquered and integrated into Fraspika, and so when Fraspika was split the new West Fraspika would grow to have a culture that was essentially hybridized Blazennian and Fremedhian, further developing the identity of the Blazennian people. Additionally, while fleeing Fraspikan conquests, a number of Blazennians would migrate westwards, and these refugees would eventually become the Oaestmen, as well as pushing further into the Feulönd and contributing to the development of that culture.

By 1210 S.C., Blazennian nations were firmly established and had become just as centralized and developed as the Fraspikan countries, who were on their last legs. As the mighty Khanate of Clesentia loomed over southern Telgren, West Fraspika reached out to and formed a confederation of many Blazennian nations. This unification of peoples would, against all odds, survive the collapse of West Fraspika and even result in closer cooperation as the centaur menace threatened the Blazennian heartland. Following the Clesentian Wars, the Confederation of Blazennia would soon evolve into the mighty Blazennian Empire. Since then, the Blazennians have usurped the role the Fremedhians held for several centuries as preeminant civilization of Telgren. Helped by their large population and defensible heartlands, the Blazennians have not been seriously challenged, aside from inwards fighting, since the formation of their Empire.

Blazennians are by and large a deeply devout people, and this has influenced their desire to spread Blazeology far and wide. This religious devotion to the gods has influenced their treatment of others in many ways, most notably in the treatment of orphans. The Sornic Daughters, a religious order devoted to the Mother Goddess Giyusorn, has long taken in various orphans and other desperate young people, raising and teaching them. Thanks to this, and unlike many other countries, Blazennia has very few homeless children, as even the youngest children know that the Daughters will care for them should they find themself without a family. Besides Giyusorn, many of Blazennia's goddesses are considered less important than the male ones, which has led to their society being mostly patriarchal. Still, Blazennia is more equal than many human societies, with more options for women than one would expect. Though succession is male-preference for the most part, women are also entitled to inheritance and have the ability to run businesses and own land, and their rights are staunchly defended by many of the female religious orders. Although discouraged, it is also possible for women to become soldiers, through the Frewaldic Order.

Besides religion, racial acceptance has been a cornerstone of Blazennian society ever since the establishment of the Empire, and has roots in the desperate fight against the Ljubidar Domina in the 10th century. However, it is important to not discount the fact that their racial tolerance only goes so far, extending to the so-called "civilized" races. The classification and determination of different races into what amounts to a racial caste system is something popularized by Blazennia to Telgren's humans, as the concept was previously limited to elves and a few fraspikan monarchs. As new races are discovered, they are added to the list, which consists of "civilized", "uncivilized", and "monsterous". Blazennians believe that civilized races are those which can appreciate and participate in Blazennian society without issue, which shows their self-bias, as they ignore other types of society other than feudal. Uncivilized races are those Blazennians believe to be capable of intelligence and integratipn, but which lack their own civilization that would allow them to do so. Blazennians display a paternal attitude to these types of races, seeing themselves as bringing enlightenment to the less fortunate. Finally, monsterous races are to be killed on sight, as they are believed to be without self control and lacking ethics, morals, or other redeeming qualities, and thus unable to ever civilize. The races known to Blazennians in each level is as follows:

• Civilized: humans, elves, gnomes, telrai, dwarves, halflings, tritons, merfolk
• Uncivilized: goblins, orcs, centaurians, hobgoblins
• Monsterous: giants, trolls, nagas, kobolds, varaiden

Population wise, there are just under over 22 million Blazennians, of which 21,230,000 live in the Blazennian Empire, including Fenmark and Salenlönd. The 22 million can be split into 7 different subgroups: the Oaestmen, the Feuli, the Embrai, the Holzfien, the Reisian, the Nordali, and the Weirweg. Some have also included the Zentian, who, while ethnically Fremedhian are culturally more integrated into Blazennian traditions. This would add another 5,000,000 to the amount of Blazennians, for 27,010,000

The population numbers of these groups are as follows:

• Reisian: ~8,500,000
• Feuli: ~5,070,000
• Embrai: ~4,500,000
• Nordali: ~1,500,000
• Holzfien: ~1,200,000
• Oaestmen: ~830,000
• Weirweg: ~410,000

Each of these subcultures have differing traditions and views which make them recognizable, but all are clearly Blazennian. The Reisian are the most populous group by far, making up the majority of the Gräiun Kugest region of the Blazennian Empire. This culture was the result of Blazennian and Fremedhian mixing in South Fraspika, but is far closer to the rest of the Blazennians ethnically at this point due to centuries of marriage and interactions with other Blazennians and not the Fremedhians. A mercantile and industrious group, the Reisians dominate Blazennia's trade, and the vast majority of Blazennians living abroad as merchants are Reisian. The culture is generally limited to the coastal provinces, but extends along both the Linorenal and Sochval rivers, where it buts up along the Embrai culture between the two rivers as well as recahing up to the more rustic Blazennians along the fringes of the Empire.

This Embrai population makes up the majority of the Emberäire region, despite large minorities of Reisians, Holzfien, and Nordali. Though not as populous as the urban and trade centered Gräiun Kugest, the Embrai are live in the agricultural heartland of Blazennia and are a major and influential group in their own right. The Embrai largely hail from provinces which were once the border between the Fremedhians and the tribes, but which had little conflict and substantial trade and cooperation during the West Fraspika period. Thanks to their ties with Fraspika, the Embrai would all join the Confederation of Blazennia, and are therefore founding members of the Empire. Their well-irrigated agricultural lands are also seen as the heartland of Blazennia, as well as being home to the sacred hot springs, and the Embrai have historically been well-represented in leading constituencies of the Empire. however, many Embrai states were on the losing end of the recent Blazennian Civil War, thus leading to a loss of influence. Being far less "Fremedhized", the Embrai are a natural transition group between the Reisian and the more rugged groups.

The Feuli, though similar to the Embrai in that their people largely straddled the border between tribal states and Fraspika, differ in a few major ways. Due to the high population of elves within the Feulönd, many Feuli have at least some elven blood, and a number of these Feuli are eldritch, giving them a longer lifespan and an addinity for magic. Due to this mixing with elven peoples, they have embraced numerous elven cultural traditions, though they remain firmly Blazennian culturally. Many of the other Blazennians consider them somewhat strange due to this, but their high percentage of the Empire's mages makes them a prestigious group nonetheless, and the Feuli are generally seen as an industrious and noble subset of Blazennians.

On the other hand, the Nordali are a group which by and large did not originally join the Blazennian Confederation, with the exception of Aldmarck and Wurdalia (and technically Kischofer, which was separated from Wurdlia early in Blazennia's history). Divided into a number of warlike and even semi-migratory tribes, they would take a number of campaigns over 30 years to bring into the fold, and were incorporated after the elves, after the Zentians, and even after the Telrai. Their range of settlement stems from Blazennian tribes fleeing Fraspikan control (which explains their hostility towards the Fraspika-era confederation), who pushed into Erleting-populated regions. Due to the poor arability of northern Blazennian, their population is decentralized and spans across a large region, with most of the Blazennian population in Dennonia being Nordali migrants. Dominant in the Stamarlönd region of Emberäire, as well as much of the Nordprovinz, the Nordali have slowly been driven to migrate into the north and even out of the Empire altogether as their population grows, due to the lack of developed agriculture and the unwillingness of other consituents to take in these migrants. The Nordali are looked down upon by most of the Empire due to their rustic ways and out of date fashion and manner of speaking, and were even pushed out of much of the modern region of Enctörlönd to make space for Enctör refugees during the 18th century.

Similar to the Nordali, the Holzfien are a minor group of Blazennians on the fringes of the Empire. Unlike the Nordali, who are divided into numerous minor barons and counts, the Holzfien are largely centered on the large polity of Sochvalar. Mostly engaged in logging and smallscale farming, the Nordali are the largest source of timber for the Empire, and have long worked to develop forestry. They, like the Nordali are looked down upon as rustic and out of date, but generally more respected thanks to the power of Sochvalar. The Holzfien have also moved north in some numbers over the years, making small enclaves within Nordprovinz and beyond. They, like the Nordali, were largely psuhed out of parts of Enctörlönd to make space for refugees.

Despite being replaced by non-Blazennians, neither of the two preceding groups are really seen as uncivilized, but just rustic and outdated. In contrast, the Oaesmen are often seen as a lesser people of Blazennia. Instead of being influenced by the so-called civilized people of Telgren (namely Fremedhians and Elves in this case) or by other Blazennian groups, the Oaestmen were influcened by Erleting, who are seen as a terrible influence. Of course, the Oaestmen are majority Blazennian, and they actually wiped out most the Erleting which originally lived in the Great Fens, but enough mingling and intermarriage occurred that they have some small cultural holdover from the ~20-30% of their ancestors who were Erleting. Being looked down upon by the mainly Embrai court of the Valien II administration, this has caused some issues for the Fens as they serve as the base for his loyalist administration. (yes, it's Eighth Realm, even the good guys are racist against... themselves, I guess?).

The final group of Blazennians, known as the Weirweg, are a people who can be found throughout the Dzentrałkrin region, as well as the parts of Dennonia outside the control of the Empire. The Weirweg are mostly descended from settlers who left the Empire at various times, usually during famine or hardship, and who sought better conditions in the north, where they were often welcomed by the Rodłowi monarchies. They have long been seen as effective soldiers as they had no stake in the region, and could be trusted to fight for land grants and not get caught up in politics, although often they were invited irregardless of soldier status. In particular, the Kingdom of Spólństawo has invited Blazennian settlers during the aftermath of plagues and other misfortune in order to resettle lands and swiftly restore outputs. Occasionally, some of the Weirweg have been elevated to the status of nobility, again mostly in Spólństawo. In recent times, the arrival of more Blazennians has occured due to the new land border between the Blazennian Empire and Spólństawo; this has caused some friction between the old Weirweg families and those newly arriving. Outside of Dennonia and Dzentrałkrin, there are a few settlements in Vnutyr Relvetsia and West Grenholl, as the Weirweg have been seen as long-lost cousins by the Voðeren. In contrast, they are rarely welcomed among the Giriþiudans, who distrust their Blazeological traditions.