Kanucks

The Kanucks were groups of barbarian tribes who inhabited the lands north of the Great Lakes known as Kandua. They were a warlike people, famous for their axes that every individual was required to have at hand. They survived by raising cattle in the dense forests of their homeland, and by raiding their civilized neighbors, most notably the Khagoan Empire. The Kanucks lived in many different small tribes, each led by a warrior chieftain. Sometimes the tribes would unite into short lived confederacies when they went on raids to the south, but the Kanucks almost always warred with each other, due to their fiercely independent culture that emphasized personal freedom.

Early History
The early history of the tribes is largely unknown, but around the time of the late Khagoan Republic they began to migrate out of the dense forests of their homelands interior, and began to settle along the northern shores of the Great Lakes. They originally lived in small tribes and bands which were each led by a war chief, who were normally elected by a council of tribal nobles. Once the Kanucks reached the lakes, their populations began to rapidly grow and their social structure grew more and more sophisticated.

Before the Khagoan presence in the Northeast, the Kanucks often warred with the Yenkee tribes native to these regions. But the Khagoans initially thought little of the isolated tribes living in the inhospitable lands north of them, and simply labeled them as barbarians with little to no culture or military power.

Clash With Chikago
As the tribes grew more organized, they began to form alliances with neighboring ones; to increase their power to stand against the Empire and their other neighboring rivals. The alliances would often organize to go on raids across the lakes against the Khagoan Empire, to enrich themselves with the spoils of war, and bring glory to their tribes name. Although during this early period of interaction with empire, the Kanucks remained in a weak state due to the constant inter-tribal warfare of their regions. They were often too low on manpower to make serious attempts at penetrating the Empire fortified frontier regions, or to defeat the better equipped and disciplined Legions and Auxiliaries that defended them.

The Kanuck tribes would learn much from their Khagoan enemies through constant interactions with them over the frontier, both peaceful and violent. They began to copy Khagoan methods of warfare, and began trading Kandaus valuable and abundant furs and metals to their southern neighbors, in exchange for their more durable arms and armor.

Around 3000PF the Kanucks began to spread westwards onto the forest-steppes between the Great Plains and their homelands. These Western Kanucks became known as the Pionniers, and they themselves eventually split into two distinctive groups shortly after. The Pionniers were unique from other Kanuck tribes to the east in that they were less focused on seafaring and fishing, and adopted some of the semi-nomadic traditions of the tribes of the plains.

Around 3300PF, the Kanucks began to form regional tribal confederacies to increase their power and influence, these included the East and West Pionniers, the Untariennes, the Kuebekois, and the the Oddua. These newly formed chiefdoms were each led by a War King, who would lead their people on large raids and even invasions which pressed deeper and deeper into the Empire. The Khagoans's were shocked by the barbarians intense motivation and finally began to respect them as a serious threat to their Empires stability.

The Emperors would pay off the warlike tribes with large sums of gold and weapons in exchange for peace, and a halt of their constant cross-frontier raiding. This only slowly increased the power and organization of the Kanuck tribes, as they learned more and for from these exchanges with the Empire, and began to use its own innovations against it.

Beginning in the Century of Anarchy, the Kanuck tribes were one of the biggest threats poised at the Empire of Khago, which was now torn apart by Civil war and on the brink of collapse. The Empires powerful military was now focused on fighting for or against the various Usurpers challenging the Emperors authority, making it the perfect time for the Kanucks to press southwards against their traditional civilized enemy.

The Great Migrations
The Empire managed to survive the Century of Anarchy, but now stood divided between the East and West. Meanwhile, the Kanucks population was rapidly expanding, and the increasingly long winters of their frigid northern homeland could no longer sustain them. This caused the Kanucks to turn to the rich and fertile Imperial lands south of the lakes. The confederacies easily broke through the now poorly defended frontiers and ravaged the Empires lands with little resistance. The Kanucks finally began to master siege warfare after learning it from captured Khagoan Engineers, and began to construct increasingly sophisticated siege engines and techniques for taking walled towns and cities. This allowed them to take large fortresses and important cities for the first time, allowing the tribes to establish a more long term presence within Imperial borders, and benefit from the fruits of its lands.

The Empires military forces were far stretched fighting its numerous enemies, and began to turn to the barbarian Kanucks for new military recruits. Entire tribes were subsidized into the provinces, and given lands known as reservations to farm and effectively rule as subjects only to the Emperor. In exchange they were required to provide the military service of their warriors in the Imperial Auxiliaries when needed. Some tribes were permitted to settle the Empires frontier lands to serve as a buffer against other Kanucks, and although these alliances were initially respected, many Kanuck warlords continued to ravage the countryside of the provinces. This is part in due to the horrible conditions and treatment of many of the Kanuck federates by imperial officials. They were subjected to heavy taxation, given the least arable lands of provinces, and often forced into labor intensive jobs by local magnates.

Many of the Kanuck Federated tribes would revolt against the Empire and carve their own independent kingdoms from the Eastern Empires dying corpse, establishing themselves as the ruling nobility over their new Imperial subjects. Meanwhile, the Pionniers were forced from the plains by the increasing power of the Nomadic Hellryder Horde, led by its infamous warlord leader, Iron Scalp. In response, tens of thousands of Pionniers refugees swarmed into the Khagoan provinces of Sohtah, Inner D'Kota, and Vizkanzin. When they were met with hostility from Imperial authorities and locals they took up arms against the empire and began pillaging countless villages. The Emperor himself responded at the head of five Legions, all of which were completely annihilated after his death and defeat at the Battle of The Skids.

Inspired by the victory of their Pionnier comrades the other Kanuck tribes eagerly began to cross the Great Lakes and ravage the heartlands of the Eastern Empire. After gaining their share of the plunder they continued on to settle different parts of the East and develop their own kingdoms.

The Berserker armada sailed on Chikago itself, threatening the historic capital of the entire Empire, but was paid off by the local wealthy families to peacefully sail through the city and pillage the coasts of the Mississippi sea, where they eventually established a thriving pirate kingdom in Tenesee. The Axemen ravaged the cities of the Midlands, gaining an immense wealth of plunder of its great towns. They then crossed the Appalachians and settled down on the coastal plain of Virjinya. The Ronto crossed the Niagara channel and conquered all of the provinces of N'York, Penzlyvania, and Inner Vajinya, while the Ottuwa sailed to take the island provinces of N'Anglynd and Mayne.

Formation of New Kingdoms and the Rise of Archivist influence
The Eastern Empire finally fell in 3976 when the last Emperor in Pittzburro was deposed by the King of the Ronto, Rodd, who claimed the Imperial title in the East and established his new capital in Pittzburro. Around the east the Canucks established themselves as the warrior aristocracy of its numerous new kingdoms. These kingdoms were initially very disorganized however, and the pagan Canuck nobles did not get along with or mix with the local formerly Imperial populations, who viewed them as barbaric savages.

The Eastern Archivist Order had survived the fall of the empire, however, and it still held great influence over the populations under barbarian rule. The Primates of Chikago made numerous attempts to convert the barbarian kings which now surrounded their small holdings in Illinoy, but their initial attempts failed. The Archivists began to share some of their knowledge with local Canuck lords and eventually gained their interest, with small numbers beginning to convert to the faith, and allowing Archivist priests to operate in their territory.

Finally, the Emperor of Penzlyvannia, Otto, converted to Archivism and outlawed his former Canuck paganism in his lands. He began threatening or coercing the other monarchs of the east to convert to Archivism with the Primates support, resulting in a series of wars and dynasty changes among the Barbarian Kingdoms. Archivism brought culture to some of the Canuck elites, and their kingdoms began to develop into feudal states, as their former war chiefs began to refashion themselves as Lords and Knights; adopting many aspects of the local culture as they let more and more former Imperial elites into the upper classes. They adopted the Archivist orchestrated Code of Valiance, which required those of noble birth to only use violence when needed and to protect the weak and the poor. But regardless, the nobles of these new kingdoms continued to quarrel with one another and small-scale warfare till plagued certain regions.

Government
In their early days, the Canucks lived in small tribes of no more than a few thousand people. Each tribe was ruled by a War Chief, who was normally elected by a council of tribal nobles and elders. Below the chief was the class of Warrior nobles known as the Mantees, who served as the Chieftains personal bodyguard and retainers. Below the Mantees were the Freemen, who often owned their own farms or flocks, and lived in independent homesteads, forming the majority of the population. The lowest class were the slaves, whom were often the prisoners of war from inter-tribal wars or raids across the frontiers. The early tribes were fiercely independent of one another, and were often based around a single village.

As the Canucks power grew larger, the various small tribes began to consolidate themselves into regional tribal confederacies. The various Chieftains of the local tribes would pledge fealty to a Great Chieftain, who often was the leader of the most powerful and influential tribe of the region. In times of war the Great Chieftains would call upon their vassal chieftains to raise warriors for battle, and their combined armies would assemble at a meeting place before departing for war.

After the invasions into the Chikago Empire, the Great Chieftains would establish themselves as the kings of their newly carved realms in former imperial provinces. They then granted lands in their kingdoms to their subordinate Chieftains in exchange for their loyalty and military service. These local lords would have control over the local Chikagoans, and their former Yankee and Dixie subjects who inhabited these conquered lands, whom they used as serfs to work the land. These new Barbarian Kingdoms established in the former lands of the Eastern Empire gradually evolved into feudal states, with a very stratified society.

Society
Before Migrating the Canucks lived in a very tribal based society that had a strong emphasis on honor and personal freedom and independence. They were extremely skilled hunters and fishers, and scavenged the endless forests of their homeland for food. Later on, the Canucks began to adopt more and more agricultural practices, and especially began herding cattle.

Canucks typically inhabited small villages within the few meadows and clearings in their homeland. The villages were each led by a Chieftain, who was elected by the council of Mountees, the elites warrior class. Most Canucks were known as Freemen and lived on independent homesteads surrounding the central village.

Trial by combat was extremely common and Canuck children were expected to know how to fight with an axe by the age of 10. Warfare was an everyday element of life in Canuck society, as rival chieftains often feuded with each other over territory or personal issues such as debt or adultery. Each tribe generally ruled a small territory or series of territories whose borders were only marked by the extensive dense forests that divided different turfs, this caused constant disputes between tribes, and the situation only began to stabilize following the rise of the confederations shortly before the Great Migrations.

Woman played a large role in society and often fought alongside their husbands in battle to protect their families. Canucks were known to have very large families, with many being the mother to over ten children. Woman were allowed to participate in tribal councils, and some even became chiefs themselves.