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The Genhari originate from two major sources. The first was the exodus of Aimius from Tidewater in 4691 G.V. or about 1100 years before “The Fall of Mahkinoc.” The second was the great exodus from Westbank only three orbits later.
In the first instance, Aimius, the commander of the Northern and Western armies, fled before the overwhelming force of Nobus who was detained by the Glorious One and His messengers in the Eastern highlands. Aimius outfitted his ships and split into two fleets intending to regroup in Westbank and mount a resistance there. Hoping to cut around the world they knew in theory was a sphere, one group tried to find the fabled eastern route. The other group sailed west over the stormy seas north of Alum.
The eastern fleet did indeed find land but not the land they expected. They passed from the light of Athiel and discovered the Starry Sea. The voyage had been longer than they had originally planned and their supplies were running low. They had no choice but to set up camp in the virgin wilderness and build a series of towns along the coast. This receptive coast is now oddly referred to by the Genhari as the “Dark Coast” and their home is called the Dreadlands. Part of the naming is to discourage those from the great continent, Alum, from seeking them out. The real reason is that Athiel does not shine in the night over their land.
The orbit following Aimius’ landing on the Dark Coast, two ships were sent back to Alum —crewed by the navigators of the original flotilla—to retrieve the rest of his divided army and whatever resources they could carry. The ships rode the winds back to the continent and began picking up bits and pieces of the failed resistance and every stout ship they could take as they made their way to Westbank. The first of the ships led the original fleet back the way they had come and eventually to the Dark Coast marking the exodus proper.
In reality the exodus stretched out over another 3 orbits as the navigators went throughout the land gathering the resistance and crewing the extra ships they had obtained. These ships were stashed in coves and other hiding places until they were ready to sail. Most of these hidden ships were crewed almost exclusively by tanthris who had been wandering without a base since the oppression of Nobus had begun.
Most of these ships tried for a quicker route by sailing west but a few returned by the path of the original exodus. The western ships found the dark eastern shores of Genhara. Being tanthris and tiered of being cooped up on a ship, they began wandering almost as soon as the ships found land. The few humans and insidis who remained on the coast built towns and farms as they couldn’t sail their ships without a crew. Eventually all but two of these ships ended up beached and used for parts.
Genhara or the Dreadlands is made up of two major continents running from Southwest to Northeast with a sizable gap between them and many large and small islands. Aimius’ group had landed on the outer Northwestern islands while the others had landed on the Southwestern continent, Genhara and its eastern islands excluding two ships that landed on the northeastern continent, Midori.
As you can imagine, it took some time for the groups to reconnect. The Exodites of Aimius soon explored the nearby islands and established a lasting civilization. The islands were ideal for agriculture. They also had large expanses of forest and hilly grazing land.
The Genhari, those who landed on Genhara, took quite a bit longer. Genhara was a mountainous continent full of deep jungles and hidden lakes. It was also full of valuable minerals such as iron, copper, gold, and even actium (which was discarded by them as useless for many orbits). The wildlife was often such as they had never seen before and the wandering tanthris immediately began naming it and mapping where they found it.
After a generation the Exodites had finally mapped their initial landfalls and began hunting for the missing ships of the third-wave. This brought them to Midori (the Northeastern continent). They quickly established new towns, and the trade between the islands widened once again. They still however followed Aimius’ command to not return to the wicked land of Alum. Of course, they had enough to do just settling in where they were.
About one-hundred orbits later they found the descendants of the two ships that had landed on eastern coast of Midori. These Midorians had settled nearly one-hundred highstrides of the western coast of Midori and even had a few trading posts and a town set up in the interior. The tanthris among them had even built a few bridges and roads to connect them. However, the quality of life did leave something to be desired as many old techniques had been lost to them. The Midorians took some persuasion and even a few small skirmishes to join the Exodite culture, but join they did if more from cultural invasion by the Exodites than anything else. Soon, the Midorians were a vital part of the trading loop that kept the civilization together.
In the south the Genhari had multiplied rather quickly thanks to the influence of quite a few insidis families that provided strong bases for the tanthris on the main continent of Genhara. By 387 S.L. (Since Landing) as the Genhari reckon the passage of orbits, Genhara had been almost completely explored and mapped. The Eastern islands had been done long before that.
The Exodites had focused almost all their attention on the continent of Midori assuming it was the only continent this side of Athiel. Little did they know that Genhara existed 150 highstrides to the Southwest of Midori. In 395 S.L. a Genhari ship docked at Deep Harbor on the southern tip of Midori and changed the Exodites’ world forever.
While taking longer to settle, the Genhari had started out with very little of the technology they once possessed but began swiftly building on what they still knew. Due to dangerous nature of their homeland they had built fortified positions and well maintained roads across their continent. Their birthrates had remained high due to some very interesting civil institutions they had formed to help colonize and defend their territory should Nobus’ armies ever come after them. No one ever said “stop,” and you know how people tend to resist change.
The watch towers or watch cities, as some became, were held by insidis families and crewed by tanthris staying at base. The tanthris children were raised / fostered by insidis families so the tanthris could go back to their wandering. Thus, many tanthris parents had two and sometimes three sets of children. The humans were focused on building new settlements inland where the tanthris scouts found ideal locations. Once established the insidis would move in providing a base for tanthris wanderers. The humans also built and manned what ships they could and kept the Genhari connected to each other.
Eventually, the tanthris began manning the ships when they realized the exploration potential. Trade increased between the inland areas and the islands, and the merchant class / culture was born into existence.
The Genhari began trade with the Exodites and soon Genhari explorers swarmed the continent of Midori and the islands around it. The Genhari had been so successful in their colonization of Genhara that the Exodites began adopting their techniques although with their own unique flair and flamboyancy with more emphasis on farming, ranching, mining, and production of goods than actual exploring. And so the traditions of the Genhari prevailed over those of the Exodites and the Midorians
Trade flourished between the islands and the social system began to stratify over the next few generations (almost fully in place by 550 S.L. excepting the Midorians). The tanthris continued in their explorations and soon the art of astronomy and navigation was born. The path of the seaman was set in place with options for either explorer or trader, and it was most often chosen by tanthris. The humans primarily took on the roles of suppliers and builders / scientists. And the bulk of the insidis found their place in government and raising children. This is partly why the Genhari have a reputation for being wise.
The Genhari developed a pseudo democracy with quite a few interesting facets. The homeland is divided into five distinct states; Midori, Genhara, Dark Coast, Eastern Islands, and the ships at sea or ‘Seaborne’. Each of these has five representatives in the Capital of Deep Harbor, located on Midori. Individually, these five representatives are called Fingers, and they are the Fist of their state. The whole body is called The Hand.
Fingers are each elected separately depending on what kind of person (job) they are to represent. Each state except Seaborne has three identical positions representing Administration and Child Rearing, Construction and Invention, Suppliers and Importers. Midori also has Mining and then, notably, The Radicals. Genhara adds Production and Manufacturing; and also Record Keepers. The Dark Coast includes Agriculture and Medicine; and also Higher Education and Learning. The Eastern Islands rounds out the dry land with a second representative from Administration and Child Rearing; and finally Soldiers and Foreign Operations. These positions are voted on once every ten orbits in a rotating fashion in such a way that four new representatives are elected every two years. No two of the same fixed positions are ever replaced at once.
The Seaborne are represented by persons with at least twenty five orbits of sailing experience. These include two former ships officers (always captains), one former enlisted seamen, one former cargo master, and one former explorer. These are elected and replaced every five orbits and voted on all at once. Thus, every five orbits the ships return to vote during the Farswing (winter). Naturally this is and an off orbit from the other elections
As you can see this system does two things. It keeps the ball rolling and there are no long term Fingers as they can only be a Finger once. It wasn’t always this way. The Trader (Traitor) War—or Hidden War as those from Alum call it—erupted in the Nearing of 723 S.L. (5414 G.V.) and was a major factor in leading to the Rebellion of Great Tree.
The Supplier and Importers had been slowly gaining power since 687 S.L. (5378 G.V.) when the Genhari reestablished contact with main continent of Alum landing at Westbank and establishing trade with Kadoroch. Due to the astounding success of the operation all four Fingers survived the elections and went to a second term. They also added the “Foreign Operations” to the Soldiers of the Eastern Islands and brought the Seaborne fully into their camp. This made for a very strong coalition of ten members.
The Traders slowly bribed or coerced the other Fingers with their newfound wealth and choose one of their own to be higher than the others calling her the Wrist. When the common people of the Genhari learned what had been done there was a general uprising creating a war between the forces. Only those involved in rearing children were given sanctuary and allowed neutrality. The Genhari did not yet posses many soldiers and the leadership was unable to quell the masses. The Seaborne divided once they realized there was fight brewing and temporarily cut almost all contact with Alum for nearly four orbits.
The war turned out to be more of a large scale scuffle than anything else. No more than three thousand were killed although many times that number found themselves in jail. It consisted of fist fights in local meeting halls, the burning of a few domiciles, and a small battle in the capital to capture and drown those who had dared to raise the Wrist. Not surprisingly, she was drowned as well. All in all, it could have been much worse. A lot of credit goes to the insidis foster parents in keeping everyone reasonably calm through the ordeal.
This also added a few more rules to those who traded with Alum. They were still forbidden to carry maps of the Starry Sea in their ships and forbidden to reveal their true homeports. Most people thought they came from another port on Alum. They were still allowed to bring Alum crews back with them accompanied by the agreement that none of these would ever be allowed to sail to Alum again. (To assure this they have the lobe of their right ear cut off while still at sea. Insidis are given a tattoo on their right hand.)
Under the new rules, however, a system of sharing the new wealth was devised which benefited a state as opposed to just a section of that state. Essentially a portions system was put in place in which the profit was divided into six equal portions. Each section got one portion and the final portion was divided among the crew, and anyone else connected directly to the venture. This led to a need to keep ample records of who did what in order for wealth to be distributed properly. To this day the Genhari learn record keeping from birth.
It is considered a grave offense to forget or even make too much of the contribution of a Genhari. It is equally important to them that you know their name. Their names consist of a first given name, their father’s given name, their mother’s given name, their earned name (if they have one), and finally their place of birth. The tanthris prefer to use their earned names, the insidis prefer to use first names, and humans seem to go by various combinations (or abbreviations placed together) of the five.
Naturally, the Genhari demand respect. From the lowest deckhand to a Finger of the Hand, they expect to be treated with equal deference. A captain may rule his ship at sea, but on land he is simply another civilian. The captaincy is an odd thing of sort for the Genhari. It is full of responsibility as it is an officer post. To attain the rank, a captain is required to attend an institution of higher learning and master the art of navigation by the stars after serving as a cabin boy for three orbits. Returning from the institution he must then work his way up through the ranks via skill, aptitude, and experience. The officers do receive slightly larger portions of the sixth than all the rest. The captain and cargo master in particular receive a double portion of the sixth.
The Genhari are nearly obsessed with the raising of children and increasing population. (They have a large wilderness to fill and feared Alum for quite some time) They tend to trade minerals and precious metals (which they seem to have in abundance) for varied foodstuffs and bits of Gileadan technology. Directly after returning contact (5378 G.V., or 687 S.L.) they seemed fixated on livestock for nearly forty orbits. This was done to build up their herds and improve the quality of their own stock.
Occasionally, a Genhari Seaborne will choose to stay on Alum. This is perfectly acceptable and legal in Genhari code of laws. What is illegal, however, is to take to the seas again for their own personal gain. If Genhari is caught doing this they are promptly drowned. The Genhari also forbid the building and use of their clipper style ships by anyone other than themselves. The hull design in particular is forbidden to be copied. This grants the Genhari the advantage of speed over all their competition. In the Battle of the Clippers in 813 S.L. (5504 G.V.) the Genhari captured or destroyed Great Tree’s fleet of mimicked ships to enforce their law. The clippers are still built in a few hidden shipyards throughout Alum and are bought by would be pirates. The Wave Kings of Arus Arad, are particularly noted for sailing such craft and are a continual thorn in the Genhari’s side.
The typical Genhari ship is a long, narrow, and shallow drafted ship with almost concave bows and vertical stern allowing it to slice through the water. The masts tower anywhere from 25-35 strides into the sky with so much sail hanging from them as to amaze the onlooker.
The Genhari do occasionally work with the Tower of Gilead; hauling their actium or providing their personnel with transportation. They do observe a few odd rituals when doing so as Athiel has an ill feel to them, and a cult devoted single-mindedly to its pursuit seems not all together right. They habitually greet the Gileadans in such a way as the Genhari will always be able to see Athiel over the Gileadan’s shoulder to remind them they must be careful. They also refuse to meet with a Gileadan by themselves, and when confronted they will do anything to find another Genhari to stand beside. They may accept Gileadan monetary notes but will not allow their skin to touch them and change them into other currency as soon as possible. Also, different Genhari ships will adopt other odd methods that very from ship to ship depending upon the extent of their superstition.
Part of the reason for this accommodation with The Tower is that the Genhari have been trying to lean the secret of forging actium. They would use this knowledge to strengthen their masts and improve their weapons, among other things. As of yet, they do not know gunpowder, but use large harpoons to capture enemy ships before boarding.
Their medicine is about equal to that of Alum. The major reason for this is that the Genhari have been trading medicinal techniques with Alum since they returned. This is perhaps the one area where all parties but The Tower are willing to share information.
The Genhari also have a unique relationship with the Cho-whissir. They have existed in peace for quite some time. The Cho-whissir have a strong presence in the northern latitudes of Midori and the islands nearby. The Genhari have been known to section off Cho-whissir hunting grounds from settlement. The Cho-whissir in turn permit mining expeditions, caravans, and tanthris wanders to pass through unmolested. They also act as scouts warning the Genhari of any ships that stray too deep into the Starry Sea. These ships are often caught and forcibly emigrated into Genhari society. Thus very few ships ever return from Genhari waters.
When in Alum, the Genhari act as a shipping guild with offices set up in major ports. These offices coordinate their efforts and arrange contracts. They also keep questions to a minimum by simply allowing the Genhari to blend easier into the landscape as an accepted institution. Guild offices are often built with black stone and resemble the ribs of a ship. They are also highly defensible should the local populace turn hostile. This happened enough times shortly after the return to make it a common policy in construction.
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