Tjorl

Tjorl (pronounced ; Solrød: Tschuren, pronounced ), officially the Federal Republic of Tjorl, is a federal democratic republic located in northern Oatland. It's territory is bound on the north by Laufeyssen, on the south and west by the Tjorlish Sea, and on the east by unclaimed territory. Tjorl covers 632,214 squared kilometers and has has an estimated population of 43 million living within its 18 states. Tjorl's capital and largest city is Kjol.

Tjorl's modern territory has been documented to be inhabited by modern humanity since 10,530 BC. Various seafaring and mining city-states were established in classical antiquity. In the late-8th to the early-11th centuries, a militaristic kingdom named Krigerhalle sacked most coastal settlements, soon taking control of most of what is now Tjorlish coastline. However, it gradually collapsed in the mid-11th century, losing most of their control on major coastal cities. After the Kriger collapse, the Kingdom of Kjolkyst was established, with its capital in Kjol.

At the start of the 17th century, the inland kingdoms were conquered and unified under the banner of Kjolkyst. After unification, the Kingdom of Tjorl was set up, under the reign of the House of Hrodisson. The royal family was then overthrown seven decades later, after which a federal republic called the Republic of Tjorl was established. Various cities later saw rapid urbanization and modernization in the 1930s and 1940s.

The Solrød people maintain a definite amount of self-determination and autonomy in specialized cantons called Innlandsamfunn. As a highly-developed nation, Tjorl maintains a welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. It also offers tuition-free tertiary education. Currently, Tjorl is a member of the World Assembly and the political union of Oatland. It is also the de facto headquarters of the Oatland Regional Cartographical Administration (ORCA).

Etymology
The word Tjorl originates from the Solrød word tiyorl ('lake'). During the late-11th to the mid-17th centuries, the term was used to refer to the inland settlements. The term gradually came to refer to all the kingdoms located on modern Tjorlish territory, most notably the Kingdom of Kjolkyst. After the kingdoms were unified in 1600, the word was adopted as the kingdom's name. The name stuck even after the royal family's abdication in 1672. The Solrød term Tschuren derives from the Old Solrød words tszo ('snowy') and ran ('peak'), referring to the Herman-Hansen mountain range located on Tjorl's northern border.

History
Tjorl has been found to be inhabited by modern humans for at least 12,530 years. The first known inhabitants were members of the Seyðissandur culture. It is theorized to be a nomadic hunting-based society primarily hunting fish, birds, and deer. The oldest tools found in modern-day Tjorl are tools made of various materials found near the southwest coast dating from at least 10,180 BC, such as wooden arrow shafts and flint tools. Later inhabitants include the Kópadalur people and the Solrød people, which were agriculture-based settlers. By the time of emergence of small city-states in the 7th century, most of what is now inland Tjorl was mostly settled by the Solrød and various other native groups such as the Tjarnavogur, Šiaulžai, and Viitakola.

Bronze Age
Around the 3rd millennium BC, new settlers in southern and eastern Tjorl introduced the concept of agriculture to the different people groups in Tjorl. This spurred the use and trade of bronze around much of modern-day Tjorl. The earliest known evidence of the emergence of bronze as a material commonly used in Tjorlish culture was a bronze plough found in southern Haugen, dating to around 3100 BC. While bronze was commonly used in various tools, it was also used in many valuables, such as elaboratly-decorated weapons, owned by powerful local chieftains. Bronze was also used for religious artifacts; the oldest of which is a necklace found in Talmiera depicting Mjölnir, the hammer of ancient Tjorlish god Thor. The metal was also used in various jewelry and depictions of Tjorlish culture at the time, such as livestock, fish, boats, local fauna, and trees.

Iron Age
Starting around 500 BC, iron was found to make farming more efficient, thus it became more of a valuable commodity among the Tjorlish chiefdoms. This period also saw the organization of numerous forms of hierarchy in the different chiefdoms. Issues between a chiefdom's clans called klansamfunnet would be decided at a thing, where all freemen can debate and decide on differing agenda, such as methods of punishment for different types of crime. Soon, influential coastal city-states arose from the amalgamation of most chiefdoms at around 450 AD. The most powerful of these city-states included Kjol, Varhelle, and Trädheim; these three cities were called the händelsbyæn. Concurrently, most chiefdoms further inland did not merge into one polity.

As trade became more common among the city-states, a runic alphabet was adapted as a tool of communication. Trading also occurred between the Tjorlish polities and the early kingdoms and empires in different Oatlandian nations such as Octonovem and Hospe. Animal hides, skins, and lumber were traded for various materials such as precious metals, silk, and grain. Grain was especially sought for in 5th-century Tjorl as not only was it a integral part of Tjorlish cuisine but also a famine struck the city-states, killing most crops.

Kriger Age
At the end of the 8th century, the coastal settlement of Garðabær was raided by seafaring marauders presumed to have come from eastern Tjorl. Modern Tjorlish scholars typically consider this raid to be the beginning of the Kriger Age in Tjorl, when most chiefdoms and city-states were fiercely subjugated under the Kingdom of Krigerhalle, a Tjorlish polity known for its ruthless assaults and their maritime prowess. The peak of their power came in the mid-10th century, when they conquered the city-states of Kjol and Varhelle. Today, it is still unknown which chiefdom Krigerhalle emerged from, but most modern-day historians believe it to be the mining town of Leirstrøm.

The raid of Kjol was described as particularly devastating by scholars alive at the time such as Thorbjørn the Knowing, who wrote "The terrors came from the sea... they killed, they stole, they burned down anything that was standing". The Krigers also attempted to conquer the inland chiefdoms, yet they were pushed back multiple times. Kriger raiders also assaulted coastal villages in Laufeyssen, while explorers discovered the Sonderskov Archipelago, a group of islands south of the Tjorlish mainland. More trade was also conducted between Krigerhalle and polities in modern-day Hospe and Broken Edge. The 9th century also saw the migration of many Tjorlins, who settled in the Sonderskov archipelago and southern Kriochland.

While many old accounts report the Krigers' brutal barbarity, many modern historians have found that the Krigers valued cultural treasures and the arts. The most notable example of which is Kriger literature, which was characterized by long epics depicting Kriger history, their voyages, their culture, and the story of their most heroic warriors. An example of which is the Sørlandsreise-Saga, which portrays the life of trusted soldier Bardi Holmstæinsson, who was known for leading the voyage to the Sonderskov archipelago. Kriger literature was also sung as bards were described to "enthusiastically tell stories around the kingdom". Art was also considered valuable at the time; many royal halls have huge paintings showing various aspects of Kriger culture. Lastly, craftsmanship was seen as integral to Kriger culture; boats, weapons, and palaces were adorned with life-like sculptures.

Under the reign of Brandr Redblade in the mid-10th century, the händelsbyæn experienced both an economic and population boom. Varhelle was later renamed Afoln while Trädheim was renamed Roshavn. After Redblade's death in 983, the kingdom nearly split in half after Redblade's brother Hiorvard Iothrsson tried to take the throne from the heir, his nephew Hermund the Brave. However, Iothrsson was killed at the Battle of Stagrunn. At around this time, foreign missionaries spurred the spread of Christian traditions across Tjorl. After attempts to further introduce the religion by influential royals, the first Christian church was built on Tjorl in 1011 as commissioned by Hermund's son Asbjorn.

By the 1030s, the Krigers' hold on the numerous city-states was weakening. The final years of direct Kriger influence was called Den store forvirringen— "The Big Confusion". As more chiefdoms slowly broke away, it presented an opportunity for the more influential city-states to take control. Powerful noble Thorvard Hrodisson initiated a revolt in Kjol, to which the Krigers responded fiercely. While Kjol was sacked again in 1040, Hrodisson and his army emerged victorious in freeing the city from Kriger rule. A few days later, he established the Kingdom of Kjolkyst; he also coronated himself as King Thorvard I. The new kingdom aimed to control the remaining Kriger lands and independent chiefdoms, and so it did for the next five years. The last remaining descendant of the Kriger royal lineage, Andvett Valgardsson, was captured in 1052, after which he was later tortured and decapitated. The organization of the new kingdom furthered the spread of Christianity around Tjorl, with it even reaching the isolated inland chiefdoms.

Centuries of peace
At the start of the 1100s, most conflicts over former Kriger territory have died down and two major entities emerged in Tjorl: Kjolkyst and the inland union of Skagastaður, which itself was made up of 32 constituent clans.