Serbovia
Establishing Nation
PROLOGUE
18th of June, 1902
Yrjönlinna
West Kalevala Republic
The Fennian Union
The sun shone over the Cape of Yrjö, casting its rays to the warehouses, piers and other structures that made up what was - at least in the mind of young Joakim Häyhä - surely the biggest and most mighty commercial port ever built in the history of mankind. From a thirteen-year old's perspective, the ships from Fennia and faraway lands docked in the many piers and the bristling activity of the thousands of people in Port District was full of wonder. He had spent many an afternoon before returning home from school at the roof of that abandoned import warehouse gazing at those wonders and dreaming of faraway lands. It was a very tall house, so he could see almost the entirety of the harbor.
Great Engellex, Mergogne, Eiffelland, Hajr and even faraway lands of Touzen, Yujin and Cantignia were in his mind. He recognized some of the flags of those countries in the steamers at the piers, amidst the more usual sights of the Fennian Thaumantic trawlers, coastal freighters and the occasional liner. He saw a passenger steamer, S/S Pohjantähti where a line of men, women and children with assorted baggage were waiting to board. Those were, he knew, people moving to New Fennia. He wanted to live in Himyar. It probably wasn't as cold over there as it was during the Fennian winter. His father was always going on about how they had a right - no, a duty - to civilize Himyar, their responsibility as Christians and representatives of Western civilization.
His father had told him that before the Fennians had come to Himyar, the children there wouldn't learn to read or go to schools and were forced from an early age to work by their parents without the opportunity to play or go to school. When he drank, his father told Joakim war stories from what he'd called his glorious mission of peace, about how Fennians had pacified the savage tribes and about how his men had cut down charging tribal warriors with the "machine-guns", as he'd called them. Joakim had had a sleepless night after that. He'd asked him if all the "negro men" were like that, and his father had told that as a punishment of their transgressions against God, God had taken civilization away from them and it was the duty of the Christian peoples to restore them into the light. But his teacher of religion at school had told Joakim that God was all-forgiving. It didn't make much sense to him.
What truly caught the boy's attention this time, however, wasn't the multitude of ships powered by steam and sail arrayed throughout the harbor. In distance at the very starting point of the cape where his father had told was a base of the Fennian Navy. The big warship, bristling with turrets and guns and white as light from its hull - an armored cruiser - and the masses of people at its berthing pier. The lines of soldiers in their uniforms of light brown and their pith helmets, rifles on their shoulders, and the officers inspecting this group of men. Even from a distance Joakim recognized the flag as one belonging to a regiment of Jägers - he had learned all the flags and the uniforms from his father - undoubtedly heading to Himyar. The ranks begun to organize in lines, in an orderly manner heading to the gangway leading to the ship deck, as women and others of his age waved their goodbyes behind a fence separating the pier and the naval base from the rest of the harbor.
The bell of the Sailors' Church - at the very far end of the pier with its tower having welcomed sailors to Yrjönlinna for decades - rang. It was four. Joakim knew that his mother was awaiting for his return from school, so he decided to go.
The scene of the embarking soldiers was one that had captured his imagination, and for the rest of the day he dreamed about what adventures they'd surely experience in far Himyar. He thought about it even when bedtime came, and before going to sleep he swore that one day - when he was older - he would be among those men.
18th of June, 1902
Yrjönlinna
West Kalevala Republic
The Fennian Union
The sun shone over the Cape of Yrjö, casting its rays to the warehouses, piers and other structures that made up what was - at least in the mind of young Joakim Häyhä - surely the biggest and most mighty commercial port ever built in the history of mankind. From a thirteen-year old's perspective, the ships from Fennia and faraway lands docked in the many piers and the bristling activity of the thousands of people in Port District was full of wonder. He had spent many an afternoon before returning home from school at the roof of that abandoned import warehouse gazing at those wonders and dreaming of faraway lands. It was a very tall house, so he could see almost the entirety of the harbor.
Great Engellex, Mergogne, Eiffelland, Hajr and even faraway lands of Touzen, Yujin and Cantignia were in his mind. He recognized some of the flags of those countries in the steamers at the piers, amidst the more usual sights of the Fennian Thaumantic trawlers, coastal freighters and the occasional liner. He saw a passenger steamer, S/S Pohjantähti where a line of men, women and children with assorted baggage were waiting to board. Those were, he knew, people moving to New Fennia. He wanted to live in Himyar. It probably wasn't as cold over there as it was during the Fennian winter. His father was always going on about how they had a right - no, a duty - to civilize Himyar, their responsibility as Christians and representatives of Western civilization.
His father had told him that before the Fennians had come to Himyar, the children there wouldn't learn to read or go to schools and were forced from an early age to work by their parents without the opportunity to play or go to school. When he drank, his father told Joakim war stories from what he'd called his glorious mission of peace, about how Fennians had pacified the savage tribes and about how his men had cut down charging tribal warriors with the "machine-guns", as he'd called them. Joakim had had a sleepless night after that. He'd asked him if all the "negro men" were like that, and his father had told that as a punishment of their transgressions against God, God had taken civilization away from them and it was the duty of the Christian peoples to restore them into the light. But his teacher of religion at school had told Joakim that God was all-forgiving. It didn't make much sense to him.
What truly caught the boy's attention this time, however, wasn't the multitude of ships powered by steam and sail arrayed throughout the harbor. In distance at the very starting point of the cape where his father had told was a base of the Fennian Navy. The big warship, bristling with turrets and guns and white as light from its hull - an armored cruiser - and the masses of people at its berthing pier. The lines of soldiers in their uniforms of light brown and their pith helmets, rifles on their shoulders, and the officers inspecting this group of men. Even from a distance Joakim recognized the flag as one belonging to a regiment of Jägers - he had learned all the flags and the uniforms from his father - undoubtedly heading to Himyar. The ranks begun to organize in lines, in an orderly manner heading to the gangway leading to the ship deck, as women and others of his age waved their goodbyes behind a fence separating the pier and the naval base from the rest of the harbor.
The bell of the Sailors' Church - at the very far end of the pier with its tower having welcomed sailors to Yrjönlinna for decades - rang. It was four. Joakim knew that his mother was awaiting for his return from school, so he decided to go.
The scene of the embarking soldiers was one that had captured his imagination, and for the rest of the day he dreamed about what adventures they'd surely experience in far Himyar. He thought about it even when bedtime came, and before going to sleep he swore that one day - when he was older - he would be among those men.