Post by Rickard Reynolds on Jul 18, 2017 16:42:17 GMT -5
Issued by the Scandinavian Federation Department of Intelligence,Stockholm, Swedish Kingdom
Summer 2028
{English Language Version}
The Federation of Sovereign Soviet Nations [FSSN]
Brief Preface
In the twilight of the Roman Empire, four great leaders came together with the perspective of forming a united world in Dark Ages Europe. This union would exist not with one single capital but four capitals exuding military, intellectual, economic, and social influence over the known world (a.k.a. Europe). Initially these capitals stood in secret locations across the European theater as its leaders resorted to clandestine existence. The Roman Empire fell, but it was not broken as the union of the four pillars assured that remnants of its power existed. Those who knew of the locations of the four capitals needed only to follow the secret route to slip out of the Dark Ages and into a budding world of magic and order. The naming of the Four Pillars originates from the establishment of stone pillars as markers to the entrances of each ancient capital.
Military influence stemmed from the Eastern Pillar, covertly nestled within the borders of the Eastern Roman Empire. With it's access to the Dardenelles and its location at the edge of both the European and Asian continents, the capital of the Eastern Pillar stood as little more than the military base and fortress of both the region and the union of the Four Pillars. Young men and women were recruited from all across the Known World (including within the Eastern Roman (later the Byzantine) Empire) and the Jewel of the East produced the world's most ambitious and innovative warriors.
In the frozen halls of the North, intellectual influence spread across the dark and cold region, seeping into the chaotic lands across the water on the mainland continent of Europe. Regarded as the North Star, the seaside capital of the Northern Pillar produced the most innovative thinkers and shared both knowledge and prowess with the Jewel of the East. Over time the two capitals would partner in training the peoples of the Known World; the people known as the Vikings would come out of this partnership as the dominating intellectual and military force of the Dark Age world.
On the sunny shores of Sardinia, the Golden City of the Southern Pillar spread its economic practices and explorations into government and lawmaking across the Known World. In partnership with her sister capitals in the Eastern and Northern Pillars, the Golden City's influence resulted in the eventual formation of centralized governments in the Known World when paired with the intellectual stamina of the Northern Pillar, the invention and regulated practice of taxation and, paired with the military prowess of the Eastern Pillar, the organized practice of colonization beyond the known borders of the world. Eventually, large-scale trade unions and trade routes would develop from these partnerships, leading to the establishment of multi-national trade partnerships and organizations existing still.
And on the stormy Gaulic coastline, the Western Pillar capital spread its social influence across the Known World. Rejecting the advances of the militaristic lifestyle promoted by the Jewel of the East, the Enchanted City enjoyed close relations with the people of the Northern Pillar, freely exchanging their skilled workers and knowledge with each other. Close ties continued between the Enchanted City and the Golden City as products from the Western Pillar were being traded on Southern Pillar markets and along Southern Pillar trading routes, which also led to the expansion of Western ideas and social mores. Particularly regarded for its innovation in fashion and system of manners in society, the Enchanted City would help found the fashion capital of the world in it's nearby neighbor city affectionately known as the City of Blinding Lights today.
Troubles
Goodwill rarely lasts a lifetime; while mutually beneficial partnerships kept the union of the Four Pillars alive throughout the Dark Ages and into the Middle Ages, the nation states and kingdoms that existed on the fringes of these societies had the nasty habit of eroding their staunch values. One great example comes with the historic animosity between the British people and the French people, where the former eroded away at the influence of the latter irrespective of age and experience. The island kingdom would survive invasions from the North (intended to bring those people back under the influence of the union of the Four Pillars), and as history has shown their own influence would give rise to the British Empire.
Eventually, the capitals of the Four Pillars failed to maintain their total dominance over the Known World, but their influences certainly brought the world into the much brighter future. While knowledge of the locations of the capital cities remained secret, covert societies also developed in each of the Pillars. One great example of the rise of separate tribes in these regions is the establishment of autonomous republics in the southern Mediterranean, the most significant of which are the Venetians, the Genoans, the Sicilians and the Milanese (each tribe enjoying their own dominance over the region whether by economic means, militaristic means or a combination of both). Even the Florentines established themselves as an artistic, economic and militaristic power with the rise of the Medici family as Europe's prime financiers.
No loss of a capital was ever more devastating than the sacking of the Jewel of the East by the Ottomans. The legendary city was in decline beginning in the early 1420s when the influence of the Ottoman Empire had expanded to much of the Imperial Byzantine territories. With the re-centralization of military power in Constantinople, the significance of the Jewel City had diminished: its warriors were no longer being trained within the city, and it stood as little more than an outpost to guard first against the Seleucid Sultanate, and finally (hopelessly) against the power of the Ottomans. It fell, at last, in 1449 CE, just four years before the fall of Constantinople in 1453 CE; effectively, the Eastern Pillar fell with the destruction of the Byzantine Empire. The Eastern Pillar regrouped in secrecy, moving away from Asia Minor and settling in extensive underground cities largely focused in the Central European Slavic regions.
Some secret societies began to explore the possibility of uncovering all the capitals of the Four Pillars: the motives were generally nefarious as the belief was that to possess all the pillars would mean that one could force their influence over the world. This belief still exists among the most clandestine societies roaming Europe and Asia. Several societies have existed underground for so long that they have organized into families and clans because of the interbreeding of their members, while others have formed close ties based on their mutual desire. For those societies that exist to protect the locations and the vitality of the three remaining pillars, conflict with clandestine societies has resulted in a centuries long cold war.
The crumbling of the Western Pillar transpired in elongated fashion throughout the late 18th and early 19th centuries as Western European powers set across the ocean to conquer the lands of the New World, taking with them members of secret societies both connected to the Four Pillars (the defense) and working against them (the offense). The cold war stretched into the New World, but the first proverbial nail in the coffin of the Western Pillar was the foundation of the American Empire in the fading of the 18th century. With significant defeats by the French at the hands of the Spanish and British kingdoms, the Enchanted City lost most of its social influence to greater Frankish cities, including Paris. Finally, as British dominance reached its height with the establishment of the British Empire, the protectors of the Enchanted City conceded their influence and set sail for the New World. The Western Pillar crumbled from that time, with a small scale effort to preserve it moving into the North Atlantic (location undisclosed).
The Southern Pillar moved its Golden City onto the Italian Penninsula, but only speculation exists as to its official location. Its ancient holdings newly abandoned, leaked information regarding the location of the ancient Golden City hastened the downfall of the traditional Southern Pillar: the city of Cagliari in Sardinia was revealed by one of the oldest members of the Golden City Protectorate. Sources suggest that the new Golden City exists within close range to its ancient holdings, and that its Protectorate has also sought to expand its influence in the New World.
With three Pillars severely damaged, the Fourth Pillar (a.k.a. the Northern Pillar) seemed to live up to its nickname: the North Star guided the ancient world in the post-modern age in large part due to the foresight of its founders. Not only had they established the systematic movement of their capital city throughout the region, but they had done so through democratic means. Competition had gotten the better of their efforts though, and while the Northern Pillar remained strong far longer than any of the other pillars, its deterioration had also existed for far longer than any other pillar. In 2028, this deterioration reached its apex as the Russian contingency of the Northern Pillar's democratic governing body, the Northern Council, declared its autonomy from the Council and established its own Federation of Sovereign Soviet Nations (FSSN).
FSSN
Informally referred to as the Russian Federation, or simply Russia, the FSSN formed around four ancient families who's influences over economic wealth and opportunity, ancient lineage and sovereignty, military intelligence and prowess, and international respect and recognition helped conquer Russian Asia and Russian Europe as well as enforce their influence in Baltic, Scandinavian and Balkans regions as far West as Central Germany. The union of the Vasiliev, Romanov, Baranov, and Petrov families solidified the rise of the FSSN and the imminent fall of the establishment of the most ancient of the Four Pillars: the Northern Pillar.
The following entries break down the four houses in detail. For intelligence purposes, each entry will feature the following categories: house founder, year founded, historic strength, historic weakness, current prime residence of family, history (in three sections), and known actions against the Northern Council.
Vasiliev Family
Founder: Alexandros Vasiliev (910-956 CE)
Founded: 928 CE
Historic Strength: Economic manipulation and dominance
Historic Weakness: Pride
Current Prime Residence: Murom, Murom Okrug, Russia
History:
Alexandrosovich Dynasty (910-1220 CE)
Alexandros Vasiliev came from Scandinavia with his family when his father upset the Norse King and was publicly executed. His family fled to the banks of the Oka River and began a very difficult life as peasant farmers, working for many wealthier families. When the Kievan Rus' rose to power, young Alexandros used his cunning to place himself in the line of the Kievan Princes. Once his savvy for numbers and calculations became apparent, demand for his expertise increased. Young Alexandros became in invaluable asset to the budding Kievan Rus' empire. Around 928 CE, Alexandros met a slave girl with extraordinary powers, and to spare her life, he married her. Once free from slavery, Valentina Vasilieva established herself as the most infamous Russian sorceress before the formation of a recognizable Russian nation. With Alexandros, she bore seven children, six of whom were girls. [See Alexandrosovich Family Tree in the Vasiliev Family Annals attached below]. The most prominent of these Vasilieva Witches was Olega Vasilieva (940-1000 CE). In a dispute that would eventually split the Vasiliev family into two branches, Olega established the eventual Valentinayeva line when she refused to wed any other Russian than one with magic blood. Ostracized, Olega and her betrothed took their family underground into a world of dark magic. The family fell out of favor in 950 CE and after a literal witch hunt to destroy their kind, Alexandros made a valiant attempt to fight for his beloved people. In 956 CE, after being imprisoned for three years and subjected to unspeakable torture at the hands of Kievan Slavs, Alexandros died. His imprisonment drove Valentina Vasilieva underground with her sixth child and most favored daughter, Olega. The two witches created a large network of tunnels leading to underground cities buried deep in the heart of the Caucasus Mountains. A distant relative in the Valentinayeva line would eventually expand that underground world beyond the borders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, establishing a school of magic for the persecuted Russians, Azeris and Georgians in that region.
OLEGA VASILIEVA AND CYRIL POSPISIL wed in secrecy in 959 CE when Olega was 19 years old. Shortly after that, they went underground to avoid persecution in the shadow of Alexandros' arrest (953 CE) and subsequent death (956 CE). From 960 CE until Cyril's death in 993 CE, the Vasilieva-Pospisil unit functioned in a loveless marriage, intent upon procreating enough purebloods to replace the slaughtered in the Aboveworld. They built the Underworld civilization with tunnels stretching as far East as Crimea, and with underworld cities along the tunneled route. Cyril Pospisil was instrumental in surfacing in the Aboveworld and recruiting and rescuing the Hunted, bringing Wizards, Witches and their children to the safety of the Underworld. Despite their best attempts, Olega and Cyril's first four children did not survive their infant years as supplies needed to survive in the Underworld were unavailable. In 970 CE, a Medi-Witch joined the Underworld society from the Northern Caucasus region of Svaneti. Irma Natashvili helped birth the only Vasilieva-Pospisil child to survive into adulthood: Dragan Pospisil carried his family's names proudly through his growing years. His legacy would solidify the Vasiliev family line's influence in the Russian-Caucasian Underworld and sustain it through the 11th century. In 987 CE, Cyril Pospisil contracted a viral disease during one of his missions in the Aboveworld. Unable to bring the refugees he'd rescued into the Underworld while they were also sick, he drew Healer Natashvili out of the Underworld and attempted to heal the Hunted, but the Rus' got to them first and in one of the most horrific episodes of the Vasiliev's history, all twelve refugees were slaughtered in a mass-burning. Healer Natashvili managed to escape with Cyril, but they were forbidden to return to the Underworld for fear of being tracked. For six years, Cyril suffered Aboveground until finally he was put to death by Healer Natashvili (who might also have been his lover from 988-993 CE). Soon after, Irma disappeared and never resurfaced in the Vasiliev Annals. Her daughter, birthed in 972 CE, became Dragan's wife in 990 CE. Unlike his parents' marriage, Dragan and Magdalena's marriage is famous for the power of its love. Olega Vasilieva survived long enough to become a grandmother (992 CE), but she passed away surrounded by her family in their home on the site of the future Underworld capital of Gorod Magdalena beneath the Caucasus Mountains.
DRAGAN AND MAGDALENA VASILIEV
Shortly before the passing of Olega Vasilieva, Dragan and Magdalena promised to carry the Vasiliev line forward into the 11th century, and dutifully they changed their clan name back to Vasiliev (in no small part due to the Matriarch's pride and loveless marriage as well). Following her death in 1000 CE, they sealed up the old family home and moved into the Magdale Valley, naming the ridge upon which they'd established the settlement Olega Ridge. The ancient Vasiliev home on Olega Ridge would become an Underworld pilgrimage site. In 997 CE, Velimir Vasiliev was born to Dragan and Magdalena. Not much is known of Velimir except for the legacy he left behind in assistance to his parents. Velimir is known to have married a clever witch called Tatiana Wolff who was of Jewish blood. Among the many Magdale Valley buildings established by Velimir, Dragan, Magdalena and Tatiana, a Jewish synagogue is one that remains in Gorod Magdalena. Records indicate that he continued the construction of the Underworld capital past the deaths of his parents in 1030 CE and 1032 CE respectively. Records in the Temple Or Haolem indicate the family between Velimir and Tatiana began with their marriage in 1012 CE. The cornerstone of Temple Or Haolem clearly states that the building was completed in 1016 CE, suggesting that later records are retrospective. Dragan and Magdelena are known to have died peacefully and are interred in the ancient Vasiliev house on Olega Ridge.
VELIMIR AND TATIANA VASILIEV
Little has been recorded regarding Velimir's life. It is known that he was survived by his much more industrious son, Abram Vasiliev, who was born in 1014 CE. Tragically, father, mother were only outlived by their son by 7 years. Aside from Temple Or Haolem and the entire Old Magdelene City, Velimir left little other trace of his existence. At Tatiana's wishes, she was interred in the crypt of Temple Or Haolem after her death in 1069 CE, and she is known to be the only Vasiliev family member in the Alexandrosovich Dynasty to be buried outside of Olega Ridge (other than Alexandros, who was cremated as was Kievan Rus' tradition). Velimir was interred beside his father at Olega Ridge in 1069 CE following his death.
ABRAM AND MAUDE VASILIEV
Abram Vasiliev is known as a prolific scribe for his family, recording thousands of historic and personal details on scrolls now kept at the Murom residence of the present Vasiliev family. His writings begin with emotional accounts of his devastation following his father's and mother's deaths in 1069 CE, and even though he only lived 7 years longer than his family, passing away from a broken heart in 1076 CE, his thousands of writings span the years of 1069-1076 CE, making him one of the most recognized members of the Vasiliev clan. According to his writings, he fell in love with a foreign witch from a Frankish-Jute parentage, and her name was Maude Wintersdotter. He details the ceremonies of birthing, name-giving and early childhood rituals in the Magdale Valley, preserving ancient customs for usage among the Vasiliev family in the present day. He wrote of all the families living in the budding city of Gorod Magdalena, as well as the families living nearby within the Magdale Valley. Sketches contributed by Maude Vasilieva (signed with an MB for identification) are included in his later writings, focusing on the development of buildings and the advancement of culture in the Underworld. His final writings include details of journeys he and Maude took through the tunnels to towns popping up along the Underworld Highway, a route known through his writings as the Black Ribbon. Following his death in 1076 CE, Maude continued the chronicles with her sketches of buildings and roadways, giving only scant descriptions of events and placenames. Surprisingly little is written about the family Maude and Abram started, but it is known that two children carried on the work of their parents: Svitlana Vasilieva (1037 CE) and Aurel Vasiliev (1039 CE). Aurel's descendants would be the last to leave the Underworld at the end of the Alexandrosovich Dynasty in 1219 CE. Svitlana's descendants would move into the Aboveworld at the beginning of the 12th century, but not during her lifetime.
SVITLANA VASILIEVA AND ANTON DEJANOVIC
In 1056 CE, Svitlana married a Slavic wizard orphan who knew his father's name was Dejan. His name was Anton, and he had come to the Underworld not to settle in the Magdale Valley but through Armenia in the Aboveworld. Therefore, he was raised in the settlement closest to Gorod Magdalena to the East: Tbis Veli, Valley of the Lake. Drawn to this place of running water (from the Black Sea in the Aboveworld) and an underground waterfall, Svitlana moved to Tbis Veli and developed it with her husband, following in her great-grandfather's footsteps. Her descendants would later write of this place as a paradise hidden from the sun. Anton and most of the Slavs living in Tbis Veli practiced the Old Religion, and it was on the banks of the Tsminda Tsqali that, in 1070 CE, a great Slavic Temple was erected as the house of all Deities. The ruins of this great House of Gods (Saxli Ghmertebi) are all that remain of Tbis Veli. Svitlana and Anton had a single daughter, Svetlana Valentina, who survived them after their deaths in 1100 CE (Anton) and 1102 CE (Svitlana). Svitlana is interred at Olega Ridge, despite the historic disputes between the people of Tbis Veli and the Magdale Valley.
AUREL AND MARIKA VASILIEV
Valentinayeva Dynasty (1220-1760 CE)
Olegovich Dynasty (1760-present CE)