Lusitânians

Lusitânians are a ethnic minority group in Darnussia. They are genetically not related to the other major ethnicities, and their language, Lusitânian, comes from Seleyan language branch, but with strong distinctive differences. Lusitânians mainly inhabitate the Migrant’s Islands, where they have semi-autonomous regional government outside the Republic’s legislature, and they also have strong communities in Alkavon. Outside these areas, Lusitânians live in every region of Darnussia is small numbers.

Early History
It is not known where and when Lusitânians came from, but the earliest notes of their existence can be found in early Semitic runes, as they traded with the Semitic tribes of the Darnussian Islands. They were also mentioned in early Nariki literature around 100CE, in which it was told that they lived in the Migrant’s Islands, a group of small islands in the Migrant’s Pass. Nariki people considered them to be Semitic, which was later proven false by historians.

Many Lusitânian tribes moved to Alkavon in as early as 200CE, based on archeological findings around Bialo and Swana. It is believed they traded and fought wars against the Alkron Tribes, and were never invaded by the powerfull Alkronians. Lusitânians also continued to trade with Narikaton, relying mainly on fishing and wine.

During the Pax Narikaton Era, they allowed Narikatonite fleets heading to the mainland to replenish their supplies in Migrant’s Islands in exchange for Narikatonite products. Darntus the Flying, then acting as General of Narikaton leading an invasion force of Alkavon, also managed to gain their assistance in the conflict, and they later played an important role in the Unification War of Darnussia, fighting with Darntus’ forces. Darntus repaid the favor by granting Lusitânian tribal leaders nobility in the invaded mainland, a move whish was not regarded highly at the time by Narikatonite nobility, as they saw Lusitânians and the Alkron/Kozari people inferior to superior Narikis. Darntus however saw the political need to have local nobility in the mainland to maintain the unity of newly found Darnussia.

Rise of the Lusitânians
During the Kingdom of Darnussia, Lusitânian nobility was highly regarded in their baronies and counties, as most of the population in them was of Lusitânian descent. While the nobility took Narik as their official language, as was common in the Kingdom, they still held on to their own culture and language. Lusitânian nobles were also extremely generous in giving their people the status of a Gentleman, a position in the Kingdoms society that gave them the possibility to run businesses and to run for minor political positions. This led to Lusitânians rising to be the most influential group of merchants in the mainland, and second only to Narikatonites in the entire Kingdom. Lusitânian merchants were able to move to other baronies and counties to trade, because as gentlemen, they had the right to do so, and thus their influence became more imminent.

In the Rebel Kings Era, a 160-year period of feudal wars after the fall of the first Darntus Royal Line, Lusitânian merchants were known to trade with the fighting nobles on every sides of the conflict, which in return benefited them even more. Lusitânian nobility did take part in the fighting, but they never achieved the position of King. They also played their part in returning the House of Darntus-Raux to the throne, to stabilize the country and to end the feudal wars.

When the industrial revolution was rising in the early 18th century, the Lusitânian merchants were part of the gentleman-faction who wanted more power to themselves, away from the nobility. Two powerfull Lusitânian merchants, Carlo Abruzzi and Aurelio Sasperi, led a revolution against the nobility, which was later known as Brief Revolution. They were able to maintain their republic for 345 days, but eventually were defeated by the King Marcel II. The king however had to subject himself to changes in the Kingdom, effectively ending the absolute monarchy that had lasted since Darntus I. Marcel still held a significant amount of power, but the Brief Revolution was the first step towards abolishing the monarchy over 200 years later.

Lusitânian influence grew during the Industrial revolution, and when Cecil I gave up the throne in 1966, they became a powerful force in the new Most Serene Republic of Darnussia. Most Serene Republic was filled with racial problems, as the Nariki people had lost much of their power with the abolishing of the nobility, and they were now standing equally with the Lusitânians and the mainlanders. Despite the Lusitânians giving the sparkle to end the nobility, it was the mainland Darnussians, the heart of the working class, who had seen it through, which lead to strong disputes among the Nariki and Darnussi people. The different languages were an issue too, as not Darnus was becoming more and more popular in the nation. Political parties became also racial parties, standing for Nariki or Darnussi or Jews or Lusitânians.

The conflict between the ethnicities led to oppression of the Jews of Darnussia, the remnants of the Semitic tribes, and fourth major ethnicity in the nation. This angered Beiteynu, and led to a war in 2124, which costed many lives, and started to drag Darnussian economy down. By 2200’s, the economic slump was at it’s worst, which led to starvation and poverty. The rich Lusitânians were able to use this to rally for power, and effectively the pro-Lusitânian parties became the dominant ones in the parliament. The movement however soon changed in the hands of Dom Duarte II, who had the parliament claim himself king, and the nation became Reino da Lusitânia, the Kingdom of the Lusitânians. Lusitân became the dominant language, even though it was only spoken by 25% of the population at the time.

Reino da Lusitânia did not last for long, and it was transformed into Republica da Lusitânia in 2576, and Gonzalo Aragâo was elected as president of the nation. The republic was not as stable as the kingdom had been, which led to ravaging conflicts between the ethnicities in and out of politics. Dom Duarte II even re-attempted to take over the country after the Nariki had managed to gain popular support. The republic came to an end following a Deltarian Invasion in 2320.

Fall of the Lusitânians
Deltarians knew that the Lusitânian faction was the strongest in diverse Darnussia, and they were targeted with strong restrictions, supported by the other ethnicities due to the dictatorial regime the Lusitânian had before. It is widely believed by later historians that Deltarians massacred 3 - 6 million Lusitânians during their invasion, which led to significant fall of the Lusitânian population, and striped them from their wealth and power. Many Lusitânians also choose to leave the nation and they never returned.

After the invasion, Lusitânians were beaten and they withdrew from much of the politics in fear of even more retribution. They were targeted in the racist conflicts that followed between the Hobaists and Jews.

Some minor Lusitânian factions attempted to make a return to the political field in different times, but they lacked the support. Lusitânians are still commonly disliked in many parts of the nation, which has led to rise of Lusitânian militants trying to fight for their right. Most recently they ignited a war between Keymon and Darnussia, as Keymon had supported Lusitânian militant factions in secrecy.

Culture
Lusitânian culture in modern day is very simple and rural. After the massacres many of them returned to the Migrant’s Islands where their culture has always been the most pure, meaning fishing, strong family and tribal connections and isolation. Lusitânians are keen on seafood and wine, and their music is more traditional than their Nariki and darnussi counterparts.

It is not common to speak about the “glory days” of the Reino da Lusitânia, as it is seen to have been a huge mistake. Lusitânians also do not publicly accuse the other ethnicities for their massacre in the hands of the Deltarians. Nationalism among them is rare, as most of them feel that they are Darnussians and not Lusitânians.

They still keep their own language in high regards, and while they speak the dominant language in the islands or mainland, in Migrant’s Islands you can find people who do not wish to speak any other language than Lusitânian.

Migrant’s Islands have an semi-autonomy, and it is dominated by Lusitânians. The only major non-Lusitânian faction is a Nariki-party, which aims to maintain the rights of the nariki-minority in the Migrant’s Islands. Their autonomy is still monitored by the republic in case of the Lusitânian militants attempt to take over the autonomy.

Famous people of Lusitânian Descent

 * Carlo Abruzzi
 * Aurelio Sasperi
 * Dom Duerte II
 * Hubert
 * Gonzalo Aragâo
 * Rafael Sanz Durán