Colonial Era (992 - 1160)

Viking_warrior_painting.jpg Colonial Construction
With the end of the EvyianI-Cyronian War in 992, Habien Gelebeth III became the official Emperor of Evyian. The island chain was renamed to the  Merick Isles  in honor of Emperor Constantine Merick who presided over Cyron at the time of Gelebeth's victory.

Gelebeth's first act as Emperor was to chart the region. Skilled cartographers were hired from all over the world to produce some of the best specimens of both land and nautical charts for the Merick Isles. Many of these charts were accurate within three feet and two are still used today.

Conditions of local villages were considered to be terrible by the Cyronian people, who looked down upon the stick and stone buildings and called them barbaric. With this deep in Gelebeth's mind, the land was opened up for expansion to settlers and areas for cities were charted out and planned.

Tribal names disappeared from both landmarks and the population, and were replaced with Latin.

Cities & Settlers
As previously stated, each location for a city was planned out and separated into plots, squares and roads before people even arrived. These magnificent cities copied Romanic water systems, employing massive aqueducts to haul water down from the mountains into beautiful bathhouses and fountains.

While Romanic influence was at an all time high, Southern islands began receiving and influx of Scandinavian settlers who arrived via longboats. These Viking like people did not follow the careful planning and naming that the Cryonian people cradled, but instead created sparse villages and towns where ever they felt best. Fafnir and New Jarlston are two major cities that still heavily bear the influence of these early settlers.

Finally, the maritime industry boomed in the Merick Isles as a whole. Different ship designs and ideas converged and were mixed together with the extremely tough Cabiani Wood that grew like wild fire in the northern islands. This attracted sailors galore, and put an interesting twist to the map. Cities like Slooptown and Brigantine became a sailor’s best dream. Set up around bars and brothels, these dirty towns were shunned by the Cryonian people, and tend to exist only on the minor islands.

End of Colonialism
While the Merick Isles were a very profitable and prosperous colony of Cyron for over 160 years, colonialism could only last so long. The collapse of the Cyron Empire in 1155 sped up the process. Royal governors were able to maintain control for five years until Erikson's Revolution began. While very minuet in size and strength, the revolution, which took place on Victoria Island, showed that Imperial troops could no longer maintain order. Erikson's Revolution now started taking a major foot hold and the crippled Cyronian Government had no choice but to withdraw as a whole.

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Viking’s revolt did not last forever though, for a man by the name of Horace Constance. Constance was a former military general for the Cyronian Province of Merick Isles before the collapse of the Cyronian Empire. Using his military skill, he quickly threw together an army and trained for several months. Upon deciding that his troops were of good enough stature, he put them on borrowed merchant ships and sailed for Victoria Island.

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">Erikson's soldiers clashed with Constance's at modern day Erikson. Constance crushed the revolution, but was so impressed with Erikson's strategy of combined fear factor, naval superiority and soldier moral that he granted some land to Erikson and allowed for him to build his own city, but under Constance's control.

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">With strength now behind his back, Constance started a campaign to control the island chain. While this campaign was short in time spent, its influence would last for centuries afterwards. Constance reunited the islands and appointed himself Emperor. Starting the Constance Dynasty and ending the Era of Colonialism.