Gwayn
There are two things that have defined Gwayn. Soldiers and forts, in that order. Their homeland is not their origin, merely a captured prize from the Dracanomachi that it's king does not seek to expand at this time. Now it is noted for it's works of engineering, mainly it's forts. Siegemakers and siegebreakers, that's what they are.
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Gwayn is a contentious nation for its actions in the Dracanomachi. Well, that isn't completely true, as the nation did not and had not existed yet.
The origin of the Gwaynish people is a mystery, in so far about their initial homeland. Perhaps they didn't truly have one, or at least a singular location to which to call home. All surviving accounts from the era simply paint them as mercenaries, so perhaps that is the simplest answer. They were from everywhere and they recruited from everywhere. Whatever the case, they rose to fame that ensured their pinning in the annals of history, even amongst the degradation of our understanding of history, during that terrible conflict.
Most accounts are from, ironically, the archives of the nations of the Brumel. The accounts of refugees, to be exact.
They describe the Gwaynish mercenaries as a wave that swept over the few defenders they had, cutting down nearly all in their path. If you wished to survive, then you had to flee away from the horde. East was the only direction left to them, and they would eventually end up in the Brumel and face further tribulations. The Gwaynish, on the other hand, were well-practiced in the tasks of looting and pillaging. They had done so many times before, and if precedent were anything to go by, they would remain for weeks or months until they ate all the food around or some other organized force pushed them to move on.
This time, however, a strange transformation occurred. Raiding parties came together under influential leaders, coalescing into larger organizations in what can only be described as a political movement. In short order, as the Dracanomachi came to an end and within a few decades of the Second Astral Era's start a nascent political body had formed from a disparate group of people largely concerned with raiding for food and profit.
This...birth, is considered an act of political and cultural alchemy, and was helmed by Odard the Carpenter. A captain of a crew of airship raiders if historical accounts are being truthful. He is placed, by multiple long-running accounts, to be at the head of the whole movement from the very start, and making the largest strides towards a unified identity out of any involved. By the end of it all, he stood at the head of an actual functioning state, and despite his popularity took a step back, earning him a legendary status in the history of Gwayn.
He was not done, however.
As the world stabilized, slowly, after the War of the Wyrms, the old predilections of humanity began to creep back in. Surprisingly, their new neighbors largely steered away. Perhaps because they just weren't in a position to have a war with Gwayn, or because they feared the reputation its population still had as warriors, despite only the oldest citizens still belonging to that initial raiding army at that time. Perhaps they just held their baser instincts off for longer.
The younger generation, what should have been the first that was truly of this new nation that had been forged, became entranced by the image of history their parents had painted for them. That a life of battle and raiding could result in anything you want being achieved. They strained against the yoke of society that was being placed on them against their will, or so they thought, and so they fought. A civil war that isn't given a name in the history books of Gwayn, often just referred to as the shame, where the younger generation of that decade was decimated by the far more experienced older generation. When the fighting was over, the population demographics of the nation looked truly grim, a prospect that they hadn't fully recovered from, even all this time later, even with the hypothesis of Proliferation in effect.
This conflict, this cultural shame, has pervaded Gwaynish culture for a long time. A deep sadness settled over them. It's said even Odard was diminished, and in his old age died in a depressive state. Rulers of the nation have since struggled to motivate the population to works outside of the nation. Even after the formation of the Empire of the Sun, they barely attempted to resist joining, causing Gwayn to be a founding member seemingly by simply being present.For the Protection of the Homeland
Type
Geopolitical, Kingdom
Capital
Training Level
Professional
Veterancy Level
Trained
Demonym
Gwaynish
Government System
Democracy, Parliamentary
Economic System
Market economy
Neighboring Nations
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