Hanuel

Hanuel

Capital	Geumseong
Head of State	Emperor Hae Cheong-Joon
Government Type	Constitutional? Monarchy
Cultures	>70% Hanuelian
Religions	No census data
Population Density	High
Population	15 millions

Hanuel, pronounced Ha-nuel, is a state located in the southwestern part of the Panguea Continent, with its territory centred on both side of the Geumgang and the Namsan mountains - in what is known as the Hanuelian peninsula. Hanuel stands for Sky in the language of the Hanuelian. The Hanuelian civilization is around the Su river valley, and also control a significant amount of territories to its north.

History

National Myth

The Hanuelian believed that they are a people whom were descended from the combination of the blood of two benevolent spirits. The ancestors of the Hanuelian arrived on boats on the shore of what is known as Panguea. Those people longed for shelter, and found nothing but deadly predators on the plains. This initial tribes were chased after by bloodthirsty fox spirits, whom saw in these new arrivals the presence of a soul - and if they devoured it, they could gain untold power. And so the ancestral Hanuelian were chased across and split into two people across the Geumgang mountains. On the north side, these people found refuge with a powerful male tiger spirit, whom took pity on them and treated them as their own children, in exchange for regular offering of meat. One day, the tiger spirit was mauled while protecting the village, and as the spirit's dying gift, it imbued its own essence into the village. These people spread out and became the first Dongye people. In the south, a female bear spirit offered them shelter in a cave, and nurtured them as if it was their own cubs. These people gained the traits of the bear - a short, stubby tail, and the ears of a bears, and its ferocity and strength. Eventually, the bear ascended to heavens for its good deed, and the people it took care of became the first Hanuelian, whom named their own tribe after the sky they saw everyday while hunting outside of their cave.

These people spoke similar but distinctive tongue, and together they formed the modern Hanuelian people.

Early History

The early recorded history of the Hanuelian people began sometime between 500 to 1000 B.S., histories of the time indicated that several tribal confederations and kingdoms existed in the region to the north of Geumgang mountains and Namsan, whom formed the ancient Kingdom of Beollan and Dongye. These nations were known to be fierce and warlike, and mastery of horse archery, and engaged in constant warfare with the Onis of the mountains and the river, alongside other tribes in the area, including the earliest attestation of the Khentaga people.

Sometime around 500 B.S., these people were driven south by the Onis into the reach of the Su river valley, where they settled and became the dominant group, forming multiple kingdoms that would vie for control of the territories to their northeast and northwest. One of these Kingdom were called Hanuel. This Kingdom were the most powerful of the several kingdoms in the area and kept the other kingdoms and the Khentaga people as its tributaries.

The Kumiho's Kingdom - Nakyang

Kumiho - fox spirits that spoke the language of the Hanuelian, has always lived in the mountains - with a particular concentration in its northwestern neighbors. These kitsunes gained a taste for blood and the knowledge of the humans, and gained great power and the ability to manipulate blood magic. Asides from formidable battlefield power - powers attested to them include the ability to drain the spiritual power of a person by a kiss - to take their knowledge after sucking their lifeforce dry, to cast spells that could down dozens of man at once...and so on. The Kumiho were feared and worshipped in ancient Hanuel and Beollan and Dongye. But at some point, the Kemonomimis and Macen of the kingdom gained the upper hand and drove them into the mountains by mastering their own magic to fight them off.

This change around 210 P.S. however, when the expanding Great Oni Empire invaded the land of the three kingdoms while they were in middle of a war amongst themselves. They used the Kumihos as their own vanguard and spies, and the Kumiho transformed into the form of beautiful courtesans (of both gender), and seduced kings and sullied the mind of officials, such that all three kingdoms fell together. As their reward, the Kumiho formed a vassal state out of the remnant of the three kingdoms, which they simply named the Nakyang - the falling sun. Auspicious for the Kumiho, ominous for its people.

Founding of Modern Hanuel

Until 700 P.S., Nakyang would last as a state where the Kumiho domineered over the common folks, keeping all power to themselves and monopolizing magic. They multiplied in numbers and used power and fear to keep the common people in check - often calling in the help of the Great Oni Empire in exchange for regular tribute. This all collapsed around 691 - 710 P.S. in the Hanuelian War, where the Hanuelian with support from Runra revolted en masse against the Kumiho in one front of many. One of the rebel leader was a mighty spellblade known as Hae Nuri, a bear Kemonomimi whom claimed to be a descendent of the ancient Hanuelian kingdom, and that he will restore its rightful rule over the peninsula. The Kumiho's rule were destroyed and what remained of them would be driven northwest to form their own rump state.

At the end of the war, Hae Nuri decided to seize the power of the Kumiho himself - enemies were abundant, and the Pale Onis, Khentaga and the revolting Youkais were now fighting for the remnants of the Great Oni Empire. He cut out the heart of the last Kumiho leader - Seoryeon, and devoured it. Then, he spent three days meditating, one day against the sky, one day observing the land, and one day observing the people. He emerged from his seclusion, and declared himself to have gained the knowledge of a great sage. He gained seemingly preternatural knowledge - predicted disasters and drought, and made the proper preparations such that the people of Hanuel whom were accustomed to living in hard times had their bellies full. He also gained formidable power, and seared the leader of the Khentaga into ashes when the leader charged him on a battlefield, and subjugated the northern kingdoms of Beollan and Dongye.

Hae Nuri would proclaim himself Emperor of Hanuel - elevating himself as equal to that of the the Runran to the east and the Oni to the north. He would then rule for 88 years, dying exactly 88 years after the day he crowned himself. During his reign, he would restore shamanistic worship and institutionalize it, build up Hanuel as a strong and independent state and expand and secure its border to the north and gain both Beollan and Dongye as its tributaries. He also instituted the "giving away" system, where any criminals of the most heinous degree, and any children born a kitsune, would be sent to the palace to fuel Hae's magic. Hae would always make sure to use those sacrifices for great purposes - using it to prevent drought, to summon great spirits of animals who assisted in works, and to destroy the enemies of Hanuel. There was some uncanny resemblance to the rule of the earlier Kumiho, but his rule was just and there were no sympathy for murderous criminals, enemy captives, or the children of the despised Kumihos. Though some parents would leave children born a kitsune in the forest in hope of a better fate.

When he passed away, he proclaimed his second child, Hae Bada - a tiger Kemonomimi the proper heir, and that he will inherit his great power taken from the Kumiho. His elder brother - Hae Mujin, whom was a bear Kemonomimi and the favorite of the court, were dissatisfied, but Hae Nuri insisted that the divine order of Ancient Hanuel, and the balance of fortune of the Hanuelian people depended on them continuing a proper tradition - him, a bear Kemonomimi whom possessed a feminine spirit's aspect and is a male, must be succeeded by a heir possessed balance in the form of exhibiting the part of a tiger, which is seen as inherently masculine.

When Hae Nuri passed away, the two factions in court were pitted against each other. The conflict was resolved in the Incident At The Hwayangjeon, when Hae Mujin and supporting officials marched on Hae Bada's residence and surrounded it with troops. The succession crisis however, was solved within 5 minutes, when Hae Bada appeared out of his house's door, and proceeded to incinerate his brother, his brother's bodyguards, and at least 50 other followers in a single fiery fireball. Said fireball scorched the ground of the palace, at least fifty feet across. Said ground has been maintained generations after generations, as a way to pay respect to their incinerated ancestor - even if they lost the civil conflict, and as warning of the perils of infighting in the family. Not that it has stopped the Hae dynasty from infighting.

Since then, the rule that the throne of Hanuel is always ruled by a male, whom must take a tiger / bear Kenomomimi wife and pass their throne to a tiger / bear Kemonomimi, opposite of their own phenotypes, has been followed for centuries.

Reign of Modern Hanuelian Emperors

Since Hae Nuri and Hae Bada, several Emperors of note has ascended to the throne, known for different deeds:

Hae Ji-nu - 8th Century - Befriended Empire of Runra, imported part of their written scripts to describe the Hanuelian language and a lot of their court systems, reformed the court to be more bureaucratic.

Hae Hyeon-mu - Created a system in which the language of the Hanuelian were recorded in a phonetic writing to assist common people in reading and writing and used magic to help spread literacy and often appeared amongst the peasants, much to his officials chagrin. Three years before his death, he instituted reforms that would limit the power of the monarch.

Hae Yung-won - Most notably was killed in battle against Khentaga and the people to the north, whom proceeded to dump his corpse into the ocean so his successor could not find it and use a ritual to take back his power - hopefully permanently weakening Hanuel. This causes a crisis, a civil war, and the discovery of a ritual to inherit the power of Hae Nuri anyway later on.

Hae Cheong-joon (1041 - ) - The current Emperor, not known for anything in particular

Government & Politics

Hanuel is ruled as a bureaucratic Empire of old, with somewhat similar structures to that of the Empire of Runra. The key differences are that in theory - officials have much more freedom to criticize the Emperor. The Emperor himself is seen as a powerful sorcerer and an exemplar to the people, but the running of the state are left to the massive, sprawling bureaucracy underneath. While the Emperor literally have the power to liquidate any of his officials - doing so would lead to revolt and civil war. It is best described as a proto-Constitutional Monarchy without a modern constitution nor formal laws that binds royal power.

Hanuel is also noted for its extensive record keeping that often defied the Emperor's own will to keep undesirable events away from the records.

The Emperor's Power

Since Hae Nuri, the Emperor of Hanuel have inherited a set of powerful and extraordinary powers, power that helped solidifies their status as the chosen, legitimate Emperor of Hanuel. According to the official history of the Hanuelian court, the power was first taken from Seoryeon and then refined by Hae Nuri and his courts of shaman advisors into someone more pure and benevolent. The power seems to be fueled into two parts - strong, "normal" Arcana and Divine magic, which the Hanuelian Emperor seems to be capable of performing more frequently and at a larger scale than usual, and true blood magic - miraculous magic with an equally terrible price - blood extracted live from prisoners or from dead sapient beings - though animals can be used as substitute, only certain intelligent, magical animals are considered equal sacrifice.

The main aspects of these blood magic seems to be the Emperor's ability to uses it to calm and obtain the cooperation of the spirits inhabiting the land of Hanuel. Generally speaking, Hanuelian Emperors are expected to take to the battlefield with their devastating blood magic - often with prisoners condemned to death in tow so they can extract their lifeforce and uses it to power devastating attacks that would save the life of the more worthy warriors of Hanuel. At peace, the Hanuelian Emperor is expected to travel on a royal tour, outside of the palace, using the magic to bargain with spirits, calm river, ensure a good harvest and so on...

Though individually powerful, as centuries went on, the Hanuelian court have relegated the Emperor to the role of a powerful sorcerer while taking over the role of actually administrating the country away from them. Of course, the Emperor's powers means that should they wish it, they can often wrestle back powers from their official and become a tyrant if they so wish - and indeed, there are many instances of this happening in Hanuelian history. Some says that the Kumiho's powers are cursed - and corrupt the heart of Emperors whom abuses it. There's no telling if it is the Kumiho's power or just power in general that corrupts the Hanuelian Emperor. However, there is one iron-clad rule - no Hanuelian Emperor has lived more than 88 years after inheriting the power of Hae Nuri.

The ritual needed to inherit the power is unknown and has never been observed by an outsider, but according to official sources, only one person can inherit the power, it is possible to inherit the power without physical presence of the previous person or their dead body, and that only descendants of the previous holder can inherit the power.

Religion

Hanuelian worships are focused on the two chief deities of the Hanuelian:

• Ungwan - The bear spirit that gave shelter to the Hanuelian people. She is seen as the chief, feminine goddess of the pantheon and is prayed to for everything from farming, harvest, water, fertility etc. etc. She is the more popular of the duo. Despite Geumho supposedly being the masculine "war" god, Ungwan is also consulted and prayed to for war - perhaps because she's a bear.
• Geumho - The tiger spirit that gave shelter to the Dongye people. He is less popular, especially in the south, but is always prayed to alongside Ungwan in times of war.

Culture

For Hanuelian names, use Korean names.

Hanuelian

All Hanuelian shares the same spoken language and written language - though some still utilizes imported Lanzi - or written characters of Runra, nearly everyone has switched over to the native writing system developed by Hae Hyeon-Mu, which is a phonetic writing system that is designed to match the spoken language.

Hanuelian are noted for being good alcohol brewer, loving fermented and spicy food, and their respect for the local spirits.

Khentaga

The Khentaga are a people, or a group of related tribes that lives on the northern border of Hanuel and in part of the land north of Gwamgang mountain - it is possible that a large population of them might have resided south of Gwamgang mountains before they were assimilated. They were nomadic in nature, but have settled down as a people and speaks a different language nowaday.

Significant Internal Factions / Leaders

N/A

Kingdom of Nakyang

The Kingdom of Nakyang was the predecessor state of Hanuel. It is a rump state, created from territories to the west of Cheongsan by the Kumihos - given the impassable mountains between Hanuel proper and the Kumiho's newfound territories, the Hanuelian have not seen any reason to pursue them.

The Kumiho re-established themselves in territories to the west and attempted to reinvent themselves as benevolent, magic wielding over the populace. In some senses, they might've truly seen the "errors" of their way - so far as it does not allow them to maintain a sustainable grip on the populace. Nakyang openly practices blood magic across most of the country - a privileges reserved for the Kumihos only, however, and has a large amount of kitsunes.

Relationship with Hanuel is openly hostile and Nakyang regularly attempt to raid shipping and Hanuel retaliates by practically burning down every villages they can find near the coast. Such a state of warfare have continued for over three centuries - with foreign powers hostile to Hanuel making sure that Nakyang still stand.

Military

Hanuelian are chiefly known for three main unique things about their military:

1. Incorporation of summoned animals - often tigers or bears into their army as shock troops or even mounts
2. Naval prowess - Hanuel's navy is powerful and have helped the country establish several colonies across the continent
3. Archery - Uniquely for a settled nation in Panguea Hanuelian are known for prowess with horse archery and painstakingly maintain their prowess in archery. Foot & Horse Archery is consisted vital part of Hanuelian culture.

Locations

Southern Provinces:

Cities to be named