Igleis

Igleis is a continent located entirely in the Northern hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern hemisphere. It borders but is connected via land to Chū-Mèe to the East. The Chū-Mèe border despite originally being geographic, has shifted and is now much more influenced by Igleis' relations with Chū-Mèe at the time, notably the Eastern Igletic countries have a large say in such border disputes due to their location. It should be noted that Chū-Mèe is in fact a country large enough to border the neighbouring continent and not a continent of its own.

Name
Most linguists and anthropologists agree that Igleis likely comes from Proto-Igletic *Jūh₃ǫłés (/ju:χõɫɛʃ/). Another possible etymology comes from Ūrexiuse (/u:ɾeksiusɛ/), who was believed to be a pan-Igletic goddess but is now believed to have been a Nimandrian goddess, her name being spread alongside the Nimandrian empire's expansion. Not much was written about Ūrexiuse before the beginning of the Imperial Age, some key pieces of evidence for her existence in Nimandrian religion have since been proven to be of the Imperial Age along with semi-divine representations of countries and Igleis as a continent being at the earliest a High Imperial practise, leaving the *Jūh₃ǫłés theory as the most supported theory.

History
Main article: History of Igleis

Prehistory
Main article: Igletic Prehistory

The population of Igleis remained in small and disparate groups for quite some time, leading a primarily hunter gatherer lifestyle. As ice sheets melted the populations began to move further North throughout the centuries with considerable spread Westwards. Modern day Mec, themselves a different subspecies from homo sapiens (Homo Silva), had already lived and evolved further North as the ice sheets were melting, they were therefore more accustomed to the colder climates and scarce food supplies than their sapien counterparts.

Due to limited food, harsh conditions and the Northern mountain range (now in Southern Fyþir) homo sapiens did not enter Mec territory for quite some time, though the scarcity of food and arable land available to the Mec at the time meant that humans were the first to develop agriculture. Many historians explain the relative ease with which the Mec were subdued in the Imperial Age to this early technoligical disadvantage. In the Mesolithic Era, homo sapiens began entering further into Igleis, mainly Westwards at this time with the most reliably dated evidence placing homo sapiens around modern day central Üñłi. Theories differ on the time of first contact with the Mec (or if contact ever stopped at all) but most place it at around this time. Due to the difficult terrain, it is generally accepted that, amongst other groups outside of Igleis, the Mec were experimenting and began uncovering methods to search for food more effectively and other such matters, which was an early form of magic.It is also generally accepted that regardless of when or if first contact occurred, it was the Mec that introduced such methods to humans, with both then developing upon it further over time, Mec in a purely secular manner while humans began developing religious beliefs from these discoveries.

By the Neolithic Era the majority of Igleis had seen some form of human or Mec activity, the furthest reliable find being along the Western shores of modern day Akadi. Unlike with the Mec, there is little debate concerning whether there was or was not first contact with the Kunaradi as their genetics are not related to other Igletic people groups (see: Kunaradi Chū-Kata Connections). Despite being found in modern day Kunaratyyra, the Kunaradi are widely accepted to stem from a number of (relatively) large boats that sailed from somewhere around Southern Chū-Mèe, possibly East of Naja who landed in Dírmala and colonised it along with Kunaratyyra a few years prior by traversing Igleis' Southern regions, the lack of settlement in regions such as Nimandrus is said to be the result of hostile local tribes (later to become the Nimandrians) as there is evidence of numerous battles in Southern Nimandrus from this time. Only finding suitably arable land along with a hospitable climate and a lack of hostile locals further West in Dírmala and Kunaratyyra, the Kunaradi settled here. The Kabéţi are a genetic oddity, having seemingly settled Kunaratyyra before the Kunaradi but with no strong evidence of a migration from any origin point.

In the Chalcolithic (Copper) Age, all of Igleis was inhabited by semi-settled humans and Mec, with no large scale population movement evident. By the time of the Iron Age the majority of humans and Mec were settled though the Mec do appear to have had some degree of pastoral nomadism present as well as settled living (unlike the Xō who were almost exclusively pastoral nomads). Nearing the end of the Iron Age, as a result of frequent trading in both Northern and Southern Cas and an early orthography developing in Kunaratyyra and Dírmala, writing began in the Eastern and Western edges of Igleis at around the same time with its spread moving inwards towards Central Igleis though the orthography of the Nimandrians would come to inflence all of Igleis due to the size and overall cultural impact of the Nimandrian Empire.

Antiquity (6000 PR-381 AR)
Main article: Igletic Antiquity

Polytheism, slow centralisations of power across Igleis and the rising of major powers such as the Nimandrian empire are the major factors in Igletic antiquity which begins with the earliest writing dated to around 6000 PR and ending with the split of the original Nimandrian Empire into separate entities.

Imperial Age (381-1600 AR)
Main article: Igletic Imperial Age

The Imperial Age of Igletic history is the longest single span of time defined between two dates. Beginning with the split of the original Nimandrian Empire and the first major consolidation of power for the monotheism of Tero, it ended with The Fall.

Early Imperial Age (381-873 AR)
Marked by the split of the original Nimandrian empire and the subsequent acquisition of political control for monotheistic Terōc, the Early Imperial Age is recognisable by its political, theological, cultural and ideological shifts from the times of antiquity. It was in the Early Imperial Age that Terōc gained much power rapidly and the Atia Eclestius (old demons) of antiquity were cast away and countless works from antiquity destroyed forever.

High or Middle Imperial Age (873-984 AR)
Considered the highpoint of the Igletic Imperial Age, the early years of the High Imperial Age were marked by a successful economy and blossoming trade especially with Xang. Issues with trade became more common through the High Imperial Age eventually ending in numerous trade wars and outright military action between empires. With resources accrued through imperialism, Igleis began in the last few years of the High Imperial Age to shift towards indusrtialisation with the old economic, cultural and hierarchical systems waning as the new industrial world took hold.

Late Imperial Age (984-1600 AR)
The majority of the changes in this time were ideological and economic. As the hold of imperial control loosened through the industrialisation and rise of capitalism throughout Igleis, coinciding with ideological shifts away from a pro-imperial stance in regions such as Dírmala. Not all nations shifted to an anti-imperial stance, some did attempt to hold onto old systems such as those in Üñłi but the paradigm shift at this time was too large to ignore and these attempts failed.

The Fall (1600-1700 AR)
Main Article: The Fall

The Fall is one of, if not the most widely known historical periods due in part to it being extremely short but due especially to the massive impact it had on not only Igletic politics but by way of Igletic imperialism and colonisation, global politics and culture as well. Not only did The Fall see the end of the Igletic empires whose rule appeared eternal, it also saw a seismic shift in religion that had been happening since the High Imperial Age, returning to polytheism due to the newly disconnected world from a lack of centralised infrastructure that the empires provided, this was also echoed in the approaches to governance. Polytheism was revisited as a result of the monotheism of numerous Igletic empires leading to theocracies, ecclesioracies, totalitarian regimes and a more willing acceptance of authoritarianism which lessened the quality of life for even those in the imperial powerhouses. Certain regions maintained their monotheism, Üñłi being the most well known example but the majority of liberated countries such as Kunaratyyra and Naja returned to their polytheistic ways or created new pantheons of gods, ex-imperial nations such as Dírmala now have a more divided stance on religion due to The Fall. The Fall is held in debate even in modern times as an example of how capitalism and industrialisation saved Igleis from destruction since the old monarchs failed the people but capitalism and industry created jobs, technological development, efficient production and new social opportunity for the masses and the elites.

Post-Fall (1700-1750 AR)
Mostly a period of attempting to survive the wars that began not as a result of monarchs or divine right but as a result of the necessity to accrue resources for industry. The new reasons for war were not seen on a large scale until this point, nor was mechanised warfare, as a result this period is when the view of war and conflict changed from something necessary and even honourable to an undesireable thing to be avoided at all costs though wars do still continue.

Modern (1750 AR-present)
Modern times are marked by digitisation of technology and the rise of late stage capitalism as well as postmodernism. Companies hold more control than even governments to some extent. The world is more connected than ever both for better and worse.

Religion
Main article: Religion in Igleis

Igleis appears from all of the earliest evidence to have been home to polytheistic religions. It is believed these religions developed from regional beliefs in prehistory coming together as settlements began forming wherein the fusion of these beliefs came to be a part of life in a new form mostly common to all people of a specific region. Over time there was a shift towards Terōc, the belief in Tero which was a monotheistic religion. Terōc spread from radicals within the Nimandrian empire who preached of a single and ultimate god which was met with harsh punishment from the believers of existing polytheistic religions at the time. Eventually Terōc managed to gain political power through the use of violence and coercion. The acquisition of power by Calpa of the Nimandrian empire was, as many historians agree, the turning point for all Igletic history to come due to Calpa's Terōcian beliefs.

During the Imperial Age, Terōcian monotheism spread rapidly and gained unparalleled power over both Igletic politics and culture. In the Imperial Age Terōcian ideological control was spread around the world along with Igletic political control. Generally speaking at this time, power became more and more centralised within Igleis, church and state even began blurring together in places like Üñłiga which even as of 2023 AR remains by some measures an ecclesiocracy or theocracy depending on one's perspective.

After The Fall, monotheism began to lose its grasp on most of Igleis with the fracturing of the church in the Imperial Age weakening the idea of a universal rule of Tero and of the lessons taught by Terōc scripture as being natural and global. Numerous reasons can be given for the fall of Terōc within Igleis but the fall of the imperial structures that it had become so intertwined with is one of the most central and most often cited.