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Gaul
| Faction | Overview |
- Gaulish
- Gallic
- Gallian
Gaul, formally known as the Gaulish Empire, is a historical Terran country once bordering Victoria, Ursus, and Leithanien. It is an imperial monarchy founded by the Ancient races that is ruled by a royal house of Liberi.
Gaul was formerly famous for its hegemony over the Terran heartland and being the most influential superpower of Terra. Gaulish culture was once appreciated across Terra, and the Gaulish language was the preferred lingua franca among other nations. Entering the eleventh century, Gaulish expansionism slowly threatened neighboring nations, but an outright invasion against them resulted in a devastating world war, the War of the Four Nations, and Gaul's utter defeat led to its dissolvement through scrambles over its territory and properties by the victors. By the present era, Gaul has been completely forgotten into history, though a restorationist movement is actively seeking to revive the old empire.
Background[edit]
The Gallic Era[edit]
Since the classical period by the dawn of the common era, Gaulish civilization could be found in the fertile heartland region. The nation survived the destructive ravages of the Nightzmoran Khaganate of the 11th Terran year, yet Gaul persisted to withhold its borders. In the following centuries, Gaul actively annexed neighboring city-states under its vassalage which expanded its territory in the process.[2]
Entering the Crystal Age, the renowned "Gallic Era" began from the expansion of the capital of Lingones. In the Terran year 833, the ruling Emperor François of Gaul initiated a city-planning project – the conversion of Lingones into a nomadic city, being the first nation that managed to migrate an old sedentary city onto nomadic platforms. The project was met with lukewarm receptions: both the mayor and the city council of Lingones, including the local ministry of urban planning, voiced out their refusal to cooperate due to political rivalry, and the residents strongly opposed the project out of both fear of the destruction of classical Gaulish architectures and the inconvenience of daily lives. As a consequence, Emperor François distrusted the conservative enrobe and handed this massive project to Comte Ousmane, a le épéiste with well-respected military background. To allow the project to go smoothly, the project orders were issued to the ministers as literal military orders. And despite complaints by residents of the old settlements, the city-planning was eventually accepted such as local greenery and construction of rising skyscrapers.[3]
The conversion of Lingones into a nomadic city was literally a massive reconstruction. According to statistics, over 40,000 buildings were demolished, and 90,000 were built and rebuilt repeatedly. The project lasted for twenty-five years, five years longer than the Emperor initially planned; as a consequence, Haussmann was punished through demotion of his office. Nevertheless, After Lingones opened itself to other nations, its lavish and avant-garde architectures attracted attention, and many were amazed that the new capital became a "playground" figuratively speaking.[4] Lingones' cultural atmosphere promoted the capital to become the "Capital of Terra" for centuries to come.
At the zenith of the Gallic Era, the Gallians experienced a sudden improvement of livelihood. Many cities were able to undergo massive infrastructure renovations through technological advancements. Social welfare covered the citizens' expenses. The period of economic and social dynamics allowed the Gallians to live a lavish lifestyle and enriched their mind, which in turn nourished their arts and philosophy. Such a period was later referred to as "Belle Époque" by later generations.[5]
The Gallic Era was also marked with its active expansion and geopolitical involvement. For centuries, Gaul had been an active expansionist into many unexplored Terran regions such as Rim Billiton and Bolívar. Between the years 885 to 897, Gaul, Victoria, and Leithanien had a heated rivalry over colonizing the newly independent Bolívar which eventually ended with Leithanian victory.[6] Gaul also had a bitter rivalry with neighboring Victoria through border skirmishes on Victorian soil and political influence on northwestern Victorian colonies, which led to its military support of the local rebels in the year 1016 that resulted in the victorious Columbian Revolutionary War.[7]
War of the Four Nations[edit]
- Main article: War of the Four Nations
The War of the Four Nations was the turning point of Gaul which eventually ended in demise. Gaul's expansionism reached its peak during the reign of its Emperor Corsica I beginning in 1019. The implementation of a new codex, the "Second Economic Reform Act," drastically revolutionized the Gaulish military.[8] On the other hand, Emperor Corsica I noticed that Gaulish hegemony was in a decline; the classical vassalage system resulted in bureaucratic corruption, and Gaul had no political ally due to its expansionism. As a matter of fact, Corsica I deemed that the empire needed a new war to forge its hegemonic influence.[9]
Gaul set its fingers onto neighboring Leithanien, even though the nation was back then ruled by Herkunftshorn the Witch King, the most powerful Caster in Terran history yet the most infamous tyrannical Kaiser. Nevertheless, Gaul noticed the bitter political rivalry between the Witch King and the Kurfürsten over political centralization and the dispute over the independence of Siracusa, and the Witch King's tyranny gave Gaul the excuse to forge an ally with the Kurfürsten in the name of liberation from his tyranny. Corsica I first enticed the Witch King to war by inviting Leithanien to form a political alliance through marriages and vassalage under Gaul which he promised to prosper for the next century. The Witch King furiously responded by petrifying every Gaulish envoy into a twenty-meter-tall statue that was sent back to Gaul.[10]
The "Gallo-Leithanian War" was launched in August 1029 in response to the Witch King's cruelty, and Gaul justified their war by declaring itself as a liberator of Leithanien. And with the neighboring rival nations remaining busy with their political affairs, Corsica I believed that Gaul would take over Leithanien within a short span of time.[10] However, the battle not only entered a stalemate as the Gaulish troops were unprepared of the Witch King's Originium Arts, but also Victoria and Ursus joined the fray by 1030, ushering in the War of the Four Nations. By 1031, the war ended with Gaulish annihilation and the destruction of the once-glorious Lingones.
Disintegration of Gaul[edit]
In the aftermath of the Battle of the Four Emperors, the three-nation alliance scrambled over Gaulish territories to prevent its revival. Many Gallians were displaced in either Victoria and Leithanien with their aristocrats being forced to serve the victors. Victoria annexed the much fertile lower Gaulish region and converted it as its union state, the Kingdom of Basse-Gaule. In present days, Victoria proclaims itself as the legitimate successor of Gaul as it incorporates a much more completed territory compared with the upper Gaulish region being scrambled by Leithanien and Ursus.[11]
The dissolvement of Gaul also came with the loss of Gaulish culture and technologies. Victoria, Ursus and Leithanien greatly benefited from Gaulish technologies that revolutionized their industries, and these allowed both Victoria and Ursus to become the next expansionist powers for the coming decades.[12] Some collectors sought to preserve Gallic relics while bakers and wineries tried to replicate the original Gaulish formula, but the latter were unable to match the original.[13] The abrupt end of the Gallic Era is often considered the most tragic event in Terra's history as the once prominent Gaulish culture suddenly fades to obscurity.
With the fall of Gaul comes a huge diaspora of Gaulish remnants scattered across Terra in various settlements. There is a fermentation of Gaulish restorationism among these communities in which they see their culture being transcended to a new ideology: if one accepts Gaulish culture, then one can become a Gaulish restorationist. Such gives rise to various nationalist movements seeking to restore Gaulish sovereignty, though they are often suppressed by the ruling regimes especially in Victoria where Gaulish communities are constantly purged.[14] Some of these movements become radicalized over time such as the attempt to steal Gallic relics on display in museums in order to rally the surviving Gallians.[15] Skirmishes between the restorationists and other powers remain prominent such as those in the Basse-Gaule region in northern Victoria.[16]
Notable people[edit]
- Corsica I
- The Last Empress-Consort of Gaul†: The wife of Corsica I, also known as the Natator[note 1]. She chose to stay in the Gaulish imperial palace upon receiving news of Corsica I's death, and killed the invading forces in a suicide attack by plunging an Originium shard into her body and casting powerful Arts until her death.[17]
- Comte Ousmane: A Gaulish count with a military background who was in charge of Lingones' relocation plans in 833, per the request of Emperor François. He was one of Nowell's most frequent clients back when he still lived in the city.[18]
- He is based on Georges-Eugène Haussmann, who was tasked to renovate Paris during the reign of Emperor Napoleon III.
- Pierre Leroy: A famous Gaulish explorer who, in 1020, discovered the ruins of the Sargonian city of Tal'sas during an expedition sponsored by the Duke of Gododdin.[19][20]
- Ravel: Nicknamed the "Greatest Arts master of Gaul," he was a caster who earned worldwide fame and notoriety years before the Witch King's ascension. His contributions to military technology made Gaul a powerful force, holding their own in the Battle of the Four Emperors before their eventual defeat.[21]
Gaulish descent[edit]
| Character | Information
|
Status
|
|---|---|---|
| The daughter of a sturdy Gaulish man living in Columbia who works as a truck driver alongside his wife.[22][23] | Alive
| |
| One of the daughters of Francois Urbica, a Gaulish astrologer who emigrated to Columbia before the fall of Gaul. | Alive
| |
| The other daughter of Francois Urbica, sister to Astesia. | Alive
| |
| Born to a Gaulish family living in Iberia.[24] | Deceased
| |
| A Gaulish-descended teacher from Saint Marsol, a school in Londinium. | Deceased
| |
| A spy of Gaulish descent, serving Dublinn. | Alive
| |
| René Lettou, the son of a Gaulish noble who emigrated to Victoria. Due to his Victorian upbringing, he lacks a Gaulish accent.[25] | Deceased
| |
| A baker's apprentice born on Avenue des Champs-Élysées, a once popular Gaulish fashion street. | Alive
| |
| An Ageless born in former Gaulish territory—Presumably Northern Victoria—and previously worked as a researcher and optician in Lingones. | Alive
| |
| Real name Lucian, born in a village in the former Gaulish region of Calais-Blasson. After being abandoned by his parents, he was then adopted by an elderly villager, but was sold to the Crimson Troupe. | Alive
| |
| The descendant of a Gaulish military officer and former member of the Gaulish restoration movement.[26] | Alive
| |
| Former Crimson Troupe assassin and one of the children of Calais-Blasson sold to the Troupe. | Alive
|
Doc, from Earth's France, was assumed Gaulish and is said to bear resemblance to Emperor Corsica I.[27]
Places[edit]
- Lingones (destroyed)
- Calais-Blason (now part of Victoria)
- Avenue des Champs-Élysées (now part of Victoria): Previously a famous shopping street for upper-class women and also Mousse's birthplace.[28][29]
- Champs-Élysées is an avenue in Paris, France.
- Calais: A Gaulish border city that, despite being long abandoned by the Emperor, managed to hold back for months against the neighboring countries' forces thanks to its artillery cannons and the unyielding leadership of a Gaulish general known as the "Imperial Standard-Bearer". One day, the general's most trusted lieutenant, presumably influenced by Tragodia, realized that Calais would sooner or later become a graveyard, so he persuaded the Standard-Bearer to take a ten minute break to open the city gates and let the allied forces enter, not before taking his own life. In modern times, most of Calais' history has been forgotten.[30]
- Calais is a city in the Pas-de-Calais department in Northern France, bordering the Strait of Dover.
Trivia[edit]
- Gaulish's status as a lingua franca alludes to the fact that real-world French has historically been used by nobles and royals to converse internationally.
- For example, the British crown spoke French in the royal court, and the English language itself was considered to belong to the peasants. As a remnant of this, the motto of the British monarch, Dieu et mon droit ("God and my right") is in French, as well as Honi soit qui mal y pense ("Shame be to who thinks ill of it"), motto of a knight order in the United Kingdom.
- This is also similar in the case of the Latin language, which was widely spoken across the Mediterranean during the Roman Empire. Though Latin is considered to be "dead" in modern days, it is still used in terms of religion, science, and other Western cultures.
- Interestingly, modern French descended from a colloquial form of Latin used in ancient Gaul.
- The colonization of Gaul by Victoria and its integration of the former's territory are allusions to the long-running historical rivalry between France and the United Kingdom such as the Normandy Conquest.
Note[edit]
- ↑ Latin for "swimmer"
