Dulfika

=The Abbey of Dulfika=

Dulfika was an island state located centrally in the Aristios region and was member to the Nuvenos Union. Dulfika followed the Nuvenos faith. The islands were first settled Summer of 147 ítévas standard (I.S.) [June 18 2021] by Beatrice Ambrosia Ruuk and her siblings, immigrants from the far-off elvish Hell settlement of Brimstone, and were first recognised as a sovereign polity Winter of 176 I.S. [October 3 2022].

Settlement
Summer of 147 I.S. [June 18 2021], the Ruuk siblings step foot in Eldham. They came from far abroad. Deep within the Southern depths of Hell lay the oasis of Ítéa, homeland of the ítévas. The siblings followed the story their father had told: a vast scape of land and greenery, the promised land of the Voclari pilgrims he had followed years ago. They came upon a small chain of isles resting off the coast of Voclaria and made home there. The town was named Ryukostead, or the steading of Ruuks.

Shortly, contact was made with the claimant of the land, a fledgling but ambitious Aristios. The settlers willfully declared their allegiance to the Empire of Zar Olea, forevermore branding them Aristii. The isles at this stage were within the Amearia(As it was named then) province of Aristios, governed directly by the Emperor. The mayor of Ryukostead was Beatrice Ambrosia Ruuk. Major activities after this point quiet until much later in the history of Aristios.

Commonwealth Crisis
Late in the First Era of Aristios, the nation had seen two new heads upon the throne of Emperor. At this time, the isles were within the Astillia province of Aristios, governed by Pepe de Gerrat. The third emperor was of a most divisive nature and sparked chaos for Aristios. During a delayed promised reform to democracy in the nation, many grew discontent with the Emperor. Spring of 100 TE [October 31 2021], a coup was declared to replace the Empire with the Commonwealth of Aristios. Ryukostead sided with the Commonwealth, and seeking new ventures, Beatrice Ambrosia Ruuk fled to Sylvania to found the now abandoned project of Dulfkeep. She entrusted the isles to Echo Regis and Michael Valore, who would go on to restructure the town.

Republic of Aristios
In the Second Era of Aristios, the isles saw their height. Under the eye of Michael Valore, Ryukostead grew to be a significant town in Aristios. After some time, even Beatrice Ambrosia Ruuk returned as a resident. The people of the town embraced the Feligares faith, one of three state-sponsored religions, which was focused upon dedicating cats and catlike peoples as chosen by the gods. At this stage, the isles remained under the province of Astillia, governed in chronological order by: Murdius de Gerrat-Olea, Unknown Subject, Iron Occida, and Beatrice Ambrosia Ruuk.

170-172 I.S. [June-July 2022], following a shortlived merger with Zamotz under the name "Zarissia", the Republic began to crumble. First was the secession of Sanctus-Ismer, next was the ceding of Castellum and the vassals(Vintas and Astrya) to Sylvania, then was the formation of the short-lived sovereign Voclaria before it too fell in with the Sylvanians. Dulfika remained loyal to the Republic as long as possible before attempting to form a government between the non-seceding provinces of Ameria and Astillia. Dashed hopes among the officials forming Voclaria led to its assured split among other succeeding governments. Dulfika and East Ameria joined under the government of other non-seceding province Shattered Isles. Aristios was formally dissolved Spring of 172 I.S. [July 19th 2022].

Shattered Isles and Scylding
Dulfika did not have many ties to the people of the Shattered Isles province beyond their shared nationality. While under their government, there were not many interactions between the people of Dulfika and other regions of the former province. Summer of 173 I.S. [August 6th, 2022], Shattered isles joined the Greater Kingdom of Scylding. Nothing much changed regarding Dulfika with this transition of government, in fact Shattered Isles functioned exactly as it had before with no changes.

Independence
Beatrice Ambrosia Ruuk grew a bit uncomfortable with the status of Aristii territory under control by Non-Aristii governments. She began to plan the secession of Dulfika from Shattered Isles, thereby breaking ties with the foreign Scylding government. She consulted with her husband Michael Valore and longtime friend Echo Horatio Regis before deciding to enact her plans. Dulfika requested independence from the Shattered Isles in Spring of 176 S.I. [September 20th, 2022]. This request was approved Winter of 176 I.S. [October 3rd, 2022]. The people of Dulfika formed a clergy government, placing power in positions of religious significance. Beatrice Ambrosia Ruuk became the first Abbess of Dulfika, a position of complete power over the isle.

Echo Horatio Regis was temporarily banished from the neighboring province of West Aristios in Sylvania and moved back to the isle. He built Asphodel on the tail end of Dulfika as his new home and was made Commissioner. Regis became a prominent diplomat of the Abbey and with diplomats of Falholt he began planning a regional alliance. The Oceanic League was formed Spring of 179 I.S. [November 7th, 2022] with Dulfika as a founding member.

Nuvenos Union
Beatrice Ambrosia Ruuk retired as Abbess of Dulfika Spring of 181 I.S. [December 9th, 2022]. In her place ascended her daughter Marigold Valerie Ruuk. The junior Ruuk had, unlike many of her peers, adopted the faith of an organised religion. She reformed the pagan polytheism of Dulfika into a Nuvenos Abbey. This was the faith of the Azadion people of Astrya, Vintas, and New Azad. Ruuk had been drawn to the gods of the Nuvenos pantheon from a young age. The people of Dulfika had worshipped many gods from both the cultures of Ítéa and their neighbors in Eldham and were encouraged to study the religions of the peoples they met. Marigold Valerie Ruuk saw in the Nuvenos faith a truth unlike any other she encountered in her studies. It is speculated that she developed an infatuation with the deity of love, Omari. Not long after the junior Ruuk became Abbess and reformed the clergy, Dulfika joined the Nuvenos Union in Winter of 182 I.S. [January 5th, 2023] due to the importance of their shared religion to Dulfika.

Dulfika expanded its territory in Fall of 183 I.S. [January 16th, 2023] when the town of Crescentia left the destabilising Kingdom of Aristios under with approval by the Rattican. Crescentia became the first Priory of Dulfika with Frankie M. Amethystul as its Priorets and Miriam Morgan as Commissioner of the town. The territory was transferred to fellow Nuvenos Union member, the Holy Realm of Astrya, in Winter of 188 I.S. [April 10th, 2023] and the associated titles were dissolved.

Government
The Abbess of Dulfika held near absolute power over the isle, and formalised their authority in a Privilegia.

Faith
The first settlers of Dulfika practiced a folk polytheistic faith and adopted the gods of those they met into their pantheon. Later, the isles were influenced by the Feligares faith stemming from then Aristii province, Castellum. After gaining sovereignty, the government of Dulfika was designed to be controlled by the pagan clergy. When Marigold Valerie Ruuk ascended to power, Dulfika adopted her faith in the Nuvenos gods.

The revered gods of the Nuvenos pantheon in Dulfika were Visveos and Omari. The Dulfik sect held Visveos to be the Creator above all other deities. Practitioners sook to please the god and be graced with his smile, as Visveos's powers were heavily associated with emotion. Omari was worshipped as the emissary of Visveos, a bridge between mortals and their Creator. In depictions and rituals related to Omari, she was associated with cats and sometimes appeared with catlike features. This was a result of Feligares influence on Dulfik practices.

Language
The people of Dulfika spoke the language of the first settlers along with the common tongue of Eldham. Itévasdí was the native tongue of the Ruuk settlers and had been the primary language of government whenever they have been in charge of the isles. The language had Verb-Object-Subject syntax. "'himucíma. dá voclaría gí éma.'"Means: "Hello. I am from Eldham". In exact terms: "Hello. from Eldham me". To denote the subject of a sentence, the term "gí" precedes.

Related Articles (See Also)

 * Aristios
 * Alia Fielinya-Ruuk