Sornicande was a settler nation located east of the Trollsbay, in the western Bloodgroves. Regarded as one of the first new nations to be established in Aelantir, it was founded by Sorncosti refugees fleeing from the Lorentish conquest of their land. In the mid-17th century it was annexed by Lorent in the aftermath of the Rianvisa.
History[]
Sornicande was founded by a group of Sorncosti led by a man from Casna Ola named Reán. With the help of fishermen, naval officers, merchants, and like-minded citizens, he was able to cobble together a large enough fleet to take him and a contingent of refugees to the old world. The first ever expedition of its kind, the so-called “Sornic Sons'' were venturing into uncharted waters. Through a combination of luck and grit, their settlement survived its first winter, and soon became a beacon for like-minded Sornics to escape to freedom from Lorentish oppression. As the small settlement grew to be a city, complete with outlying towns and a functioning government, the Kingdom of Sornicande was declared, enthroning a dispossessed Sornic duke as their king. Though their goal was to build a new home in Aelantir, idealists amongst them held on to the dream of one day retaking their homeland.
Their first winter was not the only challenge the Sornicandi needed to overcome. Before long, the Star Elves of Aelnar invaded the Bloodgroves, located just east of the Sornicandi heartland. Though the Sornicandi had started out skirmishing with the nearby Kinweh tribe, the new threat of the Star Elves forced the two peoples to begin working together, beginning a long and fruitful partnership. The Kinweh received Cannorian arms and technology from the Sornicandi, while the Sornicandi learned the extremely profitable art of trapping from their native allies. Over time, the two peoples learned each other’s languages, and combined their armies into one.
However, the Aelnari threat still loomed large, and frequent skirmishes between the Sornicandi and the Star Elves forced the former to relocate further into the Bloodgroves, away from the coast. When Cestirmark first proposed the Trollsbay Concord in 1595, Sornicande was happy to sign on. When war finally broke out between the elves and the Concord in 1610, the bulk of the fighting occurred in Sornicandi land. Their intimate knowledge of the territory and Ruinborn-influenced fighting technique allowed them to effectively disrupt Aelnari supply lines, but the disorganization of the coalition forces made offensive actions difficult. As the 20-year-conflict progressed into its later stages, both combatants had ground themselves down into a stalemate. With both sides exhausted, Lorent smelled the blood in the water, and decisively moved to finish off the weakened Aelnari.
Under Lorent[]
Unfortunately for the Sornicandi, the land claimed by the Lorentish as spoils of their intervention encompassed the whole of Sornicandi settlement. Not content to submit to the very oppressors their ancestors had crossed the sea to escape, they shifted their fight from the Star Elves to the Lorentish. Yet, it was a fight that could not be won, and after two years the last of the Sornicandi resistance laid down their arms. Despite their annexation, the Sornicandi held on to their anti-Lorentish sentiment, and continued to passively resist the occupation for generations. For their part, the Trollsbay refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Lorentish conquest, and covertly supported Sornicandi independence movements. A large number of Sornicani also fled the annexation, with many settling in the Trollsbay and forming a number of significant emigre communities.
Within the colonial administration of New Redglades, the Sornicandi proved time and time again to be a headache for the governors assigned to the colony. Outright refusing to integrate with incoming Lorentish settlers and taking every opportunity available to them to avoid paying taxes and duties, the Sornicandi frequently proved to be more of a liability than an asset to their Lorentish overlords. The above-average number of outbreaks of eldritch cults in Sornicandi land has further proven to be a drain on Lorentish funding and patience, a fact with which Lorent has frequently used a wide brush to paint all Sornicandi independence advocates as potential cultists.
As true children of Lencenor, the Sornicani also swear by the quality of their locally-produced Issushi wine (despite its middling international performance), and refuse to consume any Lencori-produced wine as a matter of principle.