History

An Old Land

The Freelands of Gwylenn are the third oldest nation state on the continent of Poseia, following both the Kingdoms of the Elves. According to Yrwin mythology. Following the sacrifice of Éimall and Aisigin, the Yrwin found themselves awake in the forests of Poseia. Shortly after, their children arrived from the far north of Orkfjarr and appeared to them as animals, teaching them how to care for the forest and nature to protect the sacrifice of their parents. Beseeching them to protect the land at all costs.

Conflict with the Valaälar

Soon after, the Yrwin came into contact with the Valaälar, who had left their mountain home a millenia before. The Valaälar, while not at odds with the goals of Yrwin, took their existance as a threat to their own and began to wage a war against the Yrwin. The war seemed to be neverending, with both sides believing that their end goal was to rid the world of the other to maintain the harmony of nature. It was during this time that the Yrwin, slowly losing their forests to the Valaälar were united under their first Dúnseal, who following a defeat at the hands of the Valaälar called for all Yrwin to come and meet him at what is now Caertaf. Here, upon the hill, it was decided that they could not win an aggresive war against the Valaälar and they would instead focus on defending this corner of Poseia, doing all they could to maintain the harmony of nature here.

The Valaälar were unable to breach their forests here, and soon, once the acts of war had ceased between the two, relations were normalised and the two finally understood their place in the world, both as protectors of nature. Following this, the Fens of the Valaälar were settled, as the two put aside their history and sealed the Pact of Nature with Ardair helping to organise the pact, promising to protect the harmony which they both reveared so much. Since then, the Valaälar and the Yrwin have been steady allies and no blood has been spilt between the peoples from that day.

Arrival of Men

Nearly four millenia later, the race of men arrived on the shores of Poseia, in progressive waves of migration. This brought new terror to the harmony of nature, with the race of man aggresively settling the untouched lands, removing forests to build create structures and cities. However, the Yrwin, remembering well the terror of war in a deep oral history kept to their freelands and placed a great enchantment on the border of their lands, causing any intruder whom intended harm against their forests to be crushed by the great limbs of trees that stood on the border. Unfortunately, due to this approach, they were only able to watch as the Valaälar who had once occupied the rest of the continent were slowly pushed back into their havens of refuge the race of man spread across the continent, bringing with them great upheaval, non so more than the destruction of the once great forest that stood in the lands of Scyltheld, which following the migrations of men was turned into upland moors as each wave of men sought more and more wood for their eternal campaign against the Valaälar.

Under the Empire

As the Millenia passed, the Yrwin kept their enchantment strong, and their lands remained protected from harm. However, as the Empire of Poseia began to rise under the banner of Arecius I, a diplomat sought the Dúnseal at Caertaf, and offered them a place within the Empire, as Arecius, aware of the age-long rumours of the forest defending itself against intruders knew that conquest here was impossible. The Yrwin, uncaring simply agreed and were brought into the fold of the Empire. Although, the impact of this only seemed to impact the colour of the region on maps, and instead the bureaucratic imperial government was mostly ignored in the freelands, choosing to live their lives as they always had, it is for this reason that many believe the Freelands of Gwylenn still remain part of the Auresian Empire having never formally succeeded. But anyone who tried to claim dominion over these lands would be laughed at.